What Could've Been
by UnderwoodSociety
Summary: What if Emily gave her child up for adoption when she was 15? What if that child showed up one day, when everything else in Emily's life was going perfectly. Established Jemily. Lots of fluff, angst, and case drama. No Will, which means no Henry or Michael. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

"Jay, have you seen my red blouse?" Emily called as she rummaged through her dresser, searching for her favorite shirt.

A second later, JJ walked into the bedroom with two cups of coffee in hand and gave one to Emily. As soon as Emily's eyes fell on JJ, she laughed and smiled fondly. JJ took a sip of her coffee and batted her eyes at her girlfriend over the rim of the mug.

"I guess you have seen it." Emily chuckled.

JJ looked down at the red shirt she was wearing under her blazer.

"I like wearing your clothes." She shrugged, taking another sip of coffee.

"And I like you in my clothes." Emily agreed. "But you missed a button."

With the most natural, domestic ease that JJ had ever seen, Emily reached out and rebuttoned JJ's shirt. Once she was done, she gingerly smoothed out JJ's charcoal blazer and straightened the collar before leaning forward and pressing a light kiss to JJ's lips.

"Looks like I'll be going with the black shirt today." Emily smiled.

JJ watched with a soft smile as Emily pulled on a black turtleneck and blazer. Once Emily turned back around, their eyes met, and she cocked her head slightly to the side in question.

"What?" Emily inquired.

"I just really love you, Emily Prentiss."

The brilliant smile that spread across Emily's face made JJ's heart skip a beat.

"And I really love you too, Jennifer Jareau."

* * *

As soon as Emily and JJ walked into the BAU bullpen, all eyes were on them. Reid and Morgan immediately turned around in their desk chairs to face them. Whatever conversation Rossi and Hotch were having stopped in its tracks.

"Good morning to you too, everybody." JJ murmured, chuckling nervously.

"Prentiss… My office please." Hotch directed.

Straightening her spine, Emily followed Hotch towards his office. As they passed the windows of the conference room, Emily noticed a young girl sitting at the round table, listening to Garcia, who was talking emphatically. For a split second as she passed, Emily and the young girl made eye contact, and the girl's eyes widened dramatically before she looked away, and she immediately began to nervously bite her fingernails.

Emily quickly redirected her attention to Hotch and uttered a quick and quiet "thank you" as he held the door open for her.

"Who's the girl in the conference room?" She inquired.

Hotch eyed Emily carefully for a few moments before speaking.

"She arrived about an hour ago and asked for you specifically." He stated, using his usual "no nonsense" tone.

Emily couldn't help but feel like she was being scolded. The way Hotch eyed her like he was expecting an answer or explanation set her on edge, and she fought the urge to start biting her nails out of nervous habit.

"I've never seen her before." She insisted. "Did she say what her name is?"

"Dani."

"No last name?"

Hotch shook his head.

"As soon as I started asking more questions, she shut down." He explained. "She's obviously nervous."

"That could just be because Penelope is talking her ear off." Emily chuckled; her best attempt to lighten the mood.

When Hotch didn't show the slightest bit of amusement at her comment, Emily cleared her throat awkwardly and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"You should go see what this is all about before we get started."

"Yes, sir."

Kicking herself for acting as meek as she had under Hotch's close examination, Emily made her way to the closed office door. Just as her hand landed on the doorknob, Hotch's voice stopped her. This time, the harshness in his voice had softened a bit, reminding Emily that not only was he her boss, but he was her friend.

"Emily, we all have things that we keep from the team." He confirmed. "All I ask is that you don't let yours effect your job."

Emily glanced back at Hotch with a careful, uncertain glance. She wanted to ask him what exactly he meant by what he had said but decided against it. With a quick, dutiful nod, Emily left the office and headed to the conference room.

She could hear Penelope speaking with her usual enthusiasm but couldn't quite make out what she was saying. As Emily raised her hand to knock on the door, she took a slow, steadying breath. She had no idea who this girl was, or what she wanted, but Emily had a sinking feeling that it wasn't something she was going to like.

She knocked twice. Instead of the firm, confident knock that she expected to have delivered, it was soft and hesitant. Within a second, Garcia was at the door. She opened it swiftly, shooting Emily her trademark 1000-watt smile.

"Good morning, my beloved crime fighting badass." Penelope greeted.

"Good morning, Penelope."

Penelope easily caught on to Emily's unease, and her smile turned from one of pure happiness and excitement, to one of sympathy and worry.

"I'll leave you two to it, then." Garcia declared, ducking her head as she moved past Emily in the doorway, giving the brunette agent's arm a comforting squeeze as she did.

Once Garcia was gone, Emily carefully closed the door to the conference room. The tension in the air was tangible to the point that Emily felt it sitting on her shoulders, weighing her down. The girl- Dani- Emily reminded herself, was eyeing her carefully. Her back was stick straight, not touching the back of the chair she was sitting it. Emily straightened her own spine to match the girl's posture as she sat across from her. She took a moment, studying the young girl. Her deep, chocolate brown eyes were narrowed slightly as she studied Emily right back, as if she were assessing a threat. Her facial features were soft yet defined. Her sharp jawline, high cheekbones, and slender nose made her look older than she was, but Emily was sure that she couldn't be older than sixteen.

As Emily studied her, taking in her confident, challenging demeanor, long, gorgeous dark brown hair, and assertive gaze, the sinking feeling in Emily's gut grew exponentially.

"I'm Agent Emily Prentiss." Emily introduced herself, forcing the words out of her mouth.

Dani nodded, not bothering to introduce herself as she reached for the messenger bag that was sitting on the floor beside her. Emily's dominant hand twitched, prepared to go to the weapon attached to her hip. She inwardly cursed the way she had been conditioned to expect danger- a side effect of her career. After a second or two, Dani pulled a manila envelope from her bag and placed it on the table, sliding it closer to Emily.

"I need you to sign these papers." The teen announced plainly, taking a pen from the inside pocket of her leather jacket, clicking it open, and placing it on top of the envelope.

Curiously, Emily picked the envelope up from the table and opened it. She removed the stack of papers from the envelope, immediately recognizing them as legal papers. When she read the header, her breath stopped in her throat.

_Relinquishment of Parental Rights_

"These are… I-I don't- "Emily stammered, frantically looking between the legal papers and the girl sitting before her.

She saw it in that moment. The eyes, the hair, the natural air of rebellion. It was like looking in a mirror that transported her 15 years into the past.

"Look, Agent Prentiss." Dani began. "I want about as much to do with you as you do with me, so once you sign those papers, we never have to see each other again. Sound good?"

Still unable to process the information, Emily diverted her full attention to the papers.

"Daniella Lucia Moretti." She read aloud, slowly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"It's Dani." The young girl corrected, almost harshly.

"It's a beautiful name." Emily affirmed. "Who gave it to you?"

Dani sighed, exasperated, and very obviously done with the situation.

"The nuns at my orphanage."

That caught Emily's attention, and her eyes snapped up. She dropped the papers down onto the table and folded her hands together over them.

"I don't understand." She insisted. "I was told you were adopted."

"I wasn't adopted until I was six." Dani clarified. "That only lasted about a year. Hence, why you still have parental rights."

Every impulse in Emily's brain told her to push on her answer, to fill the gaps that it created. However, her attention was drawn to Dani's hands. They were rested on the messenger bag that now lay on top of the table. Across Dani's knuckles, raised on her alabaster skin, were scars. They reminded Emily of her days in Catholic school. The nuns would use a ruler to slap the top of the hands of misbehaving students. If Emily's last name wasn't Prentiss, letting all of the nuns know exactly who her mother was, there was no doubt that Emily would have been subject to a few slaps on the knuckles as a child.

Dani carefully followed Emily's gaze down to her hands. With lightning fast reaction time, she pulled her hands into her lap, under the table.

"How did you end up in the States?" Emily inquired, hoping to ease the additional tension that her staring had just created. "You were born in Italy. Why aren't you still there?"

"Would you stop with the questions and sign the papers?" Dani snapped, immediately realizing the bite in her tone and looking down at her hands.

"First, tell me why you need them signed."

Dani's gaze snapped right back up to meet Emily's. Emily had stiffened, put on her interrogation face. She instantly felt guilty, as if she were acting like a mother scolding her child when she had no right to do so.

"I'm getting emancipated." Dani declared. "In order for that to happen, you have to sign your rights away."

"And you have the means to support yourself?" Emily questioned, cocking a quizzical brow.

"You care all of a sudden?"

The shock from Dani's response hit Emily square in the chest, and she suddenly felt like she was drowning. Every fight or flight instinct in her took control of her actions, and before she knew it, she had signed the papers. Before she could so much as click the pen closed, Dani had slid the papers out from under her, sealed the envelope, and put it back in her bag. The young brunette stood, revealing her tall, slender stature. At fifteen, she was already nearly as tall as Emily.

"I apologize for disturbing your morning."

With a curt nod, Dani strode out of the conference room and began making her way out of the bullpen. She ducked her head, knowing that every member of the BAU was watching her, even if they weren't looking directly at her. After a couple second delay, Emily shot up from her chair and jogged after the teen. Just as Dani made it to the elevator, Emily caught up to her.

"Dani, wait." Emily called.

Hesitantly, Dani turned around to face her. Emily got one last look at the beautiful young woman standing before her before releasing a slow breath.

"Do you need anything?" Emily asked. "Anything? Even a ride home."

Just as Emily asked the question, the elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. Dani stepped inside the elevator and turned to face Emily once more, giving her a small, sad smile.

"It was nice meeting you, Agent Prentiss."

* * *

"Um, who was that and why did she look like some younger, regenerated clone of you?" Penelope questioned, quickly following behind Emily as she strode to her desk and struggling to keep up in her heels.

Emily ignored the question and began decluttering her desk, throwing things she no longer needed into the plastic trash bin right beside her.

"Em?" JJ interjected, moving to stand next to Penelope. "Who was she?"

JJ knew the answer. Emily had told her about the child she had given up for adoption at age fifteen. She and Rossi were the only ones who knew, and Emily had expressed that she wanted to keep it that way.

Emily didn't so much as glance up at what she was doing, knowing that everyone was watching her and weren't even bothering to hide it.

"Uh… that was my daughter." She breathed.

"Your wha- "Penelope started, only to be cut off by Emily, whose movements were becoming more frantic.

"Biologically, I mean." She clarified. "Because I just signed away my rights so she can get emancipated. She's supposed to be in Italy. She was supposed to be adopted right away, but she wasn't. All these years I held on to the fact that she was adopted by a good, loving family, but she spent most of her life in an orphanage."

JJ stepped forward and placed her hands on Emily's shoulders, pulling her girlfriend's attention to her.

"Why don't you and I go grab some coffee, yeah?" She proposed. "Maybe cool off a bit."

"I don't need to cool off, Jennifer." Emily insisted. "I need to know why I was lied to fifteen years ago."

"I can look into it." Penelope offered. "Adoption records are easy to find and unseal. It'll take me about an hour."

With the world's smallest, grateful smile, Emily gave Penelope a small nod. Without a second of hesitation, Penelope spun around and marched toward her lair.

"You know." Reid interrupted. "Intercountry adoptions in Italy are actually fairly uncommon. With the religious nature of the country as a whole, most orphanages actually discourage adoption in the hopes that the biological parents will come back for the child."

"Reid, not helpful, my man." Derek sighed, clapping his hand on Spencer's shoulder.

Emily's breathing began to quicken, and JJ caught onto it right away. She immediately took Emily by the hand and directed her into her office. She locked the door and shut the blinds before settling Emily down into her desk chair and kneeling in front of her.

"Slow it down, love." She cooed, brushing strands of hair away from Emily's face. "Slow breaths."

JJ continued to whisper sweetly to Emily as she attempted to ward off the impending panic attack. After a few minutes, her breathing had evened out, and the shaking in her hands subsided a bit.

"I don't know what to do, Jay." Emily admitted, tears gathering in her eyes.

"We'll wait and see what Pen can dig up, and we'll go from there." JJ comforted. "You're not in this alone, okay? I'll be here the whole time."

Emily leaned down and kissed JJ softly, and when she pulled away, JJ wiped away the few tears that had rolled down her cheeks.

A soft knock at the door interrupted the moment. With an apologetic sigh, JJ got up from the floor of her office and opened the door just enough that she could speak to Hotch on the other side, but still obstructed his vision from Emily.

"We need to brief the team on the newest case. We'll meet in the conference room in twenty minutes." He informed her.

"Yes, sir." JJ agreed.

"Do you two need anything?" Hotch asked, his stern demeanor softening.

JJ smiled softly and shook her head.

"Alright then." Hotch nodded. "See you in a few minutes."

When JJ closed the door once again, she turned around to find Emily standing stick straight, her face void of any expression.

"Hey, don't do that." JJ frowned.

"Don't do what?"

"Don't shut down on me. Around the team, fine. I can understand that. But when it's just the two of us, the walls stay down, okay?" JJ requested. "Promise me."

Reluctantly, Emily nodded. Releasing a deep sigh, she pulled JJ into a tight hug.

"I promise."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! Here is chapter 2! Thank you for the kind words that were left on the first chapter, it is very much appreciated.**

**A quick warning in this chapter, there is a very brief mention of abuse. It's not entirely graphic and is only for a couple lines. Also, my Italian is somewhat unpolished, so if anyone notices a mistake anywhere in this chapter or future chapters with my Italian, please let me know. It is not my first language.**

**Peace and love.**

**-C**

Everyone sitting around the conference table, waiting for JJ to deliver the information on their next case, had no idea how to act. They all sat in silence; Reid was looking down at his hands, twiddling his thumbs. Morgan was staring at the case file placed before him, spinning his pen between his thumb and his forefinger. Hotch and Rossi were both reading over emails on their phones. Emily was staring at the wall, her brain moving too quickly to focus on a single thought. The only thing keeping her grounded was JJ's hand on her knee, squeezing comfortingly.

Breaking the silence, Penelope came barging into the room.

"Sorry I'm late. I lost track of time." She apologized, flustered as she sat down next to Emily.

"Now that we're all here." Hotch started, clearing his throat. "Let's get started."

JJ reluctantly removed her hand from Emily's knee and stood up from the table. With the click of her remote, pictures of four mangled dead bodies appeared on the screen behind her. Once everyone's attention was completely on JJ, Penelope wordlessly slid a manila folder under Emily's hands. When Emily glanced at her, Penelope squeezed the brunette's hand tightly- a promise of "We'll talk later.". After sharing a smile, both women redirected their attention to JJ.

"Three bodies have been found in Lakeview, Arkansas." She began. "Local authorities have no leads. Victims are Todd Lane, 23, Mason West,26, and Jack Newberry, 21."

A screen showing driver's license photos of each victim side-by side came up on the screen.

"Well, the unsub has a type." Morgan observed. "Blonde hair, blue eyes, physically fit, and in their twenties."

JJ nodded in agreement and pressed another button on her remote, causing the display on the screen to change. Each license photo was replaced by pictures of the bodies. Numerous deep, angry slashes were prominent on the torsos of the victims. Each victim had a long, continuous cut on their neck, stretching from ear to ear.

"They all bled out." JJ explained. "Baxter County medical examiner says that the cuts on their torsos are post-mortem."

"Overkill suggests that this is personal for our unsub." Rossi added.

"Where were the bodies dumped, Jay?" Emily asked, glancing over her case file once more before meeting her girlfriend's eyes.

The corner of JJ's lips turned up slightly when she saw Emily slip back into her usual, FBI professional demeanor.

"Each body was dumped in heavily wooded areas." She answered. "If it weren't for the fact that it happens to be hunting season, they probably wouldn't have been found for months."

"Lakeview is located in the Ozark mountains." Reid informed the team. "In order to get the bodies into the locations that he did, the unsub has to be extremely physically fit."

"This unsub is killing every two weeks. Based on the time since the last victim was killed, we have three days to find whoever it is." Hotch announced, closing his case file and standing up from the table. "Wheels up in thirty."

Everyone quickly stood up from the table. Both Emily and Garcia took their time gathering their files, letting everyone else leave before they did. JJ began to leave the room, but Emily's hand coming to rest on her arm stopped her. Slowly, Emily pulled the folder that Garcia had handed her previously and opened it. Staring back at her on the first page was a picture of Dani, standing in front of a crisp white wall. If Emily had to guess, she had to have been four at the time the picture was taken. Dani was scowling at the camera with her arms crossed over her chest defiantly. Emily couldn't help the way the corners of her mouth turned up into a small smile.

"I would have more information, but a lot of her file was in Italian. I have someone working on translating the rest of it. I know you're fluent, but I figured I'd just make it a little easier." Penelope explained.

Emily nodded in understanding as she flipped to the next page.

"What's this?" JJ inquired, looking at the page Emily had just flipped to.

Penelope hesitated for a moment, causing both Emily and JJ to look up at her quizzically. Reluctantly, Penelope released a quick sigh before speaking.

"For the first six years of Dani's life, she was in an orphanage in Rome called Ali D'amore- "

"Wings of love." Emily translated.

"Right." Penelope nodded. "As far as I can tell, it's like a baby training camp. They're cranking out perfect, genius babies for elite couples to adopt. From day one, these kids are educated to the max. Each kiddo has a profile listing their crazy kid genius qualities; things like musical prodigy, gifted athlete, math genius. There's also a list of their "red flags", but if you ask me, those qualities are just their kid brains peeking through. They even have IQ scores for the older ones."

"Dani speaks four languages." JJ read aloud.

"That's not entirely uncommon in Europe. Most kids know at least two languages." Emily clarified.

"Tiny Prentiss was a genius from the start. As you can see, she's listed in both the "musical prodigy" and "academically gifted" categories." Penelope added.

"She still wasn't adopted until she was six?" Emily questioned.

"Maybe because of her red flags. They listed her as argumentative, strong-willed, and resistant to authority."

"Sounds familiar." JJ quipped, nudging Emily lightly with her shoulder.

"What about her adoptive family?" Emily inquired.

"That, my dear, is how she ended up Stateside. It's also the part that gets really sad." Penelope answered. "Conrad and Anna Moretti, both professors at Georgetown. Six months after they adopted Dani, Anna was killed in a car accident. Her car stalled over train tracks."

"And Conrad?"

Just as she asked, Emily started to flip to the last page of the file, but Garcia placed her hand over Emily's, stopping her movements.

"Uh… I-I'm not really sure you want to know that part. I wasn't even sure if I should put it in the file."

"What's so bad that I can't- "Emily began, shrugging Garcia's hand off of hers and flipping the page. She stopped talking the instant she saw what Penelope was talking about.

The next page was a police report. Attached to it was a picture of Dani's hands. Emily easily recognized them from the scars running across the knuckles, just like she had seen earlier. In the picture, however, some of the marks were still angry, red welts and open cuts.

"Dani was removed from Conrad's custody after a surprise wellness check. According to the report, Conrad would punish her by smacking a yardstick on her hands. As you can tell, it wasn't the typical Catholic school swat."

Emily snapped the file shut, gripping it so tightly that the corner she was holding crumpled in her hand.

"Thank you for all of this, Garcia." She said hollowly, giving her friend a tight-lipped smile.

Emily looked at her watch and cleared her throat.

"Time to head to the plane."

Without acknowledging JJ or Penelope any further, she left the conference room with tears stinging at the back of her eyes.

* * *

Dani's hands shook violently in the bitter cold as she carefully pushed the window to her shared bedroom open just enough that she could climb in. As soon as she expertly maneuvered her tall, slender body through the window and shut it, a voice broke the usual silence of the room.

"We have a front door, you know."

Dani jumped at the unexpected company, whipping around so quickly that it nearly made her dizzy. Sitting on the twin bed that was entirely too close to her own, was her roommate, Sam. Sam was nine years old, quick as a whip, and she never shut the hell up. If Dani had to guess, she would say she lost nearly ten hours of sleep a week, just from having to listen to Sam's incessant questions.

They had both arrived at New Hope group home for girls on the same day. Dani had been kicked out of yet another group home after getting into an argument with one of the other girls. Since she had been the newest arrival, she was the one to get booted. Sam, however, had been taken out of her foster family's home after they simply decided that they didn't want her anymore. She had arrived at New Hope a few hours after Dani had with tear-stained cheeks, clutching a teddy bear to her chest. Sam had cried for hours, curled into a ball in the middle of her bed. Taking pity on the younger girl, Dani pulled her tattered deck of cards out of her bag, coaxed Sam out of her bed and on to the scratched hardwood floor for a game of Go Fish.

That was three years ago. They still played cards every night, only now they had graduated to poker. On special nights, Sam would sneak down to the living room and steal the chronically unused chess board so she could force Dani to teach her how to play.

Dani narrowed her eyes at the young girl as she removed her messenger bag and her coat, throwing them onto her bed.

"The front door is only an option if Becky knows that I'm gone in the first place." She pointed out.

"Why didn't you just tell her where you were going?" Sam asked.

With a heavy sigh, Dani sat down on her bed and began removing her over-worn leather boots. As she undid the laces, she glanced at Sam, who was watching her expectantly.

"I'm not too keen on telling people my business. Especially not Gatekeeper Becky."

"Becky is a nice lady." Sam insisted.

Dani shrugged as she pulled her hair into a ponytail.

"Nice isn't everything, Sam."

"You just don't like being told what to do."

With a light chuckle, Dani nodded.

"Fair assessment." She agreed. "Hey, I got you something. A late Christmas present."

Sam instantly perked up, folding her hands in her lap as she waited not-so-patiently for Dani to dig through her bag. Dani purposely searched the bag longer than she needed to, earning an impatient whine from Sam. After deciding that she had put the young girl through enough torture, she pulled the Washington Nationals baseball cap out of her bag, reached forward, and placed it on Sam's head, pulling down far enough that the bill covered Sam's eyes, eliciting a joyous giggle. Sam took the hat off to get a good look at it, and a beaming smile instantly took over her features.

"Dani, this is so awesome!" She exclaimed before pulling it back on over her messy, bright blonde hair. "Thank you!"

"If Becky asks, you won it in a contest at school, okay?"

Sam lifted her hand up against her forehead and saluted to Dani. Dani laughed lightly and rolled her eyes. The sound of Becky's voice coming up from the bottom of the stairs filtered into their room, and both of them sighed.

"Girls! Lunch is ready!"

"I can't wait until break is over." Dani grumbled. "Cafeteria food is so much better than Becky's cooking."

"Food is food!" Sam argued, jumping up from her bed and running out the door. "Come on, Dani! Andriato!"

Dani rolled her eyes at Sam's poor attempt at speaking Italian.

"It's _Andiamo_, kid." She corrected as she walked towards the stairs.

The resounding "whatever, Einstein" that she got as a response caused a bright, joyful laugh to rumble up from her chest. If there was anyone that could wash away the sadness of the morning that Dani had just had, it was Sam, and that was exactly what she had done.

* * *

Every fiber of Emily's being wanted to crawl into a deep, dark hole and never come out. She was emotionally drained from the morning's events, and then to top it all off, the Lakeview police department consisted of four middle-aged men who had no intent on actually doing their jobs correctly. JJ had spent most of the day on the phone with Arkansas state police, attempting to get them to send some sort of assistance to the small police station, while Reid, Morgan, and Emily worked to organize crime scene photos and develop some sort of preliminary profile.

"Do you think these kills are sexually motivated?" Morgan wondered, offering the question to both Emily and Reid.

They both shook their heads in the negative.

"I'm almost thinking its jealousy." Reid responded.

Emily released a slow, thoughtful breath as she looked up at the evidence board, examining it closely. When a thought slapped her in the face, she got up from her chair to look at the crime scene photos more closely. All three victims were wearing heavy duty hiking boots that were caked in mud.

"Hold on…" She started. "We had originally thought that our unsub brought his victims to the mountain when they were already dead, but I don't see any drag marks in the photos, and Hotch didn't mention any when he came back from the scene."

"Maybe he carried them." Morgan suggested.

"All three victims were around 150 pounds." Emily argued. "I'm not convinced that it's possible that they were carried that far up the mountain."

"So, you're thinking that they were brought up there alive." Reid clarified, earning a nod from Emily.

"Then why isn't there blood at the crime scene?" Derek questioned.

Reid immediately jumped into the papers sitting before him, reading quickly.

"It rained the night before each body was found." He announced.

"This is far more calculated than we had originally thought." Emily stated. "The unsub knows that evidence will be washed away by rain, and he's purposely leaving the bodies in places that hunters will find them the next morning."

Derek leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Reid, were the cuts on the torso done with a hunting knife?" He asked.

Reid got up to look at the photos closer, after a couple minutes of examining them, he nodded.

"It's possible."

"What's possible?" Hotch interjected as he walked into the police station, followed by Rossi and JJ.

JJ eyed Emily carefully, noticing the rapidly appearing bags under her eyes and the slightest slouch in her shoulders. Emily shot her a quick, reassuring smile before addressing Hotch.

"I think we're looking for a hunter."

* * *

"So, your mom is an FBI Agent?" Sam asked, as she drew a card from the deck sitting between her and Dani. "That's badass."

"First off, she's not my mom." Dani corrected. "She's just the lady who gave birth to me…Second, since when do you say "badass"?"

"Since I turned nine. Nine is the age that you get to start swearing." Sam shrugged.

"Guess I never got the memo." Dani chuckled.

"Is she pretty?" Sam inquired.

"Huh?"

"Your Not Mom." The younger girl clarified. "Is she pretty?"

Dani shrugged as she rearranged the cards in her hand.

"Yeah, she's pretty. Why do you ask?"

"I always pictured my mom as super pretty. Moms are supposed to be pretty."

Dani smiled at Sam's childlike logic.

"She's not my mom, Sam."

"Did she seem sad when she signed the papers?"

Dani paused, thinking back to Emily's shocked expression when she first saw the legal document, and then to her hollow, emotionless gaze after signing the papers.

"I think she was mostly just surprised." Dani explained.

"Did you ask her about the money?"

Dani's gaze shot up, and she pinned Sam with a stern glare.

"What're you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, Dani." Sam sighed. "We've been best friends for three years; did you think I wouldn't notice the fact that you get a letter every month with money in it? You even leave them out sometimes. It's from her, right?"

"It has to be." Dani replied. "The letters don't say anything, they're just signed "A.E.P". I don't know anyone with those initials, so A.E.P has to be Agent Emily Prentiss."

"But didn't she think you were still in Italy? And that you had a family?"

Dani opened her mouth to suggest an explanation but came up short. She thought for a moment, digging as far into her mind as she could to think of anyone else who might be sending her $300 every month for the past seven years. Someone who knew where she was, and who she was.

Quickly, Dani got up from the floor and dug for the envelope with her emancipation papers in it, then opened the chest at the foot of her bed and grabbed the trinket box that was full of the untouched money that she had been given. She pulled out one of the signed letters that came with the money, and the document that Emily had signed hours before. She held the two signatures up next to each other and examined them.

The two sets of handwriting were completely different.

"What're you doing?" Sam questioned, looking closely at the two signatures as well. "Why're you looking at these?"

Dani put the papers back in their rightful places slowly as her mind raced for an explanation. Having come up with nothing, she shook her head.

"I think it's time for bed, Sam." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"But we haven't finished our game!"

"I said its time for bed." Dani snapped, instantly regretting her tone.

When Sam jumped at the unexpected anger in Dani's voice and tears quickly filled her eyes, Dani pulled her into a tight hug, resting her chin on the top of Sam's head.

"I'm sorry." She apologized. "I didn't mean to yell."

Sam said nothing, but hugged Dani back tightly, letting the older girl know that she was forgiven.

"It's late, though." Dani insisted. "We really should be getting to bed. Go brush your teeth."

Sam reluctantly pulled away and wiped a couple stray tears from her cheeks.

"How do you say toothbrush in Italian?" She asked.

Dani smiled and ruffled Sam's hair.

"Spazzolino."

"Spazzolino." Sam repeated.

"Perfetto!" Dani praised. "Now go brush your teeth."

Sam started to walk out of the room but stopped in the doorway and turned back to Dani.

"Hey, Dani?"

"Yes?"

"You're still gonna be my best friend, right?" Sam asked. "When the judge says you're emancipated?"

Dani froze as she was pulling back her comforter to get into bed, and looked at Sam, who looked so much younger now as she became more fearful of Dani's answer, the longer she waited.

"Sam, no matter what happens, I'll always be your best friend."

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are much appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey y'all! Here's chapter 3!**

**I want to just let everyone know that this first case that the team is working on isn't going to have much of a story line at all. In fact, it will be over and done with after this chapter. I want to focus on developing the situation between Emily and Dani before going deeper into a case, if that makes sense.**

**But this is a Criminal Minds fic after all, so I had to throw a case in at the beginning.**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and thank you for all of the kind words, favorites, and follows. It means so much.**

**Peace and love**

**-C**

Emmett Daniels. That was their unsub. He had lured the three victims into the mountains under the guise of needing help with an injured hunting partner, only to slit their throats with his hunting knife. And now, there Emily and Derek were, chasing him up a mountain with numerous Arkansas state police officers several yards behind them.

Emily was fully convinced that either her lungs were going to burst, or her legs were going to fall off. Whichever happened first would be ten times better than having to continue chasing a murderer through steep, rocky terrain. Derek was also struggling, having to push off of the trees that he passed to propel himself forward. Daniels was only about twenty feet ahead of them when his foot slipped out from underneath him. Unable to catch himself, he began sliding down the mountain, grasping at bushes and rocks, trying to stop his downward movement.

"I got him!" Derek called, using his last bit of energy to lunge forward and grab Daniels by the back of his jacket, stopping him from sliding any further and pressing him further into the mud.

Emily quickly caught up as Derek put handcuffs on the man beneath him.

"Emmett Daniels." She wheezed. "You are under arrest for murder."

"We can take it from here, Agents." One of the state police insisted as Derek hoisted Daniels up from the ground.

Derek nodded and handed Daniels off to two officers, who began dragging him down the mountain roughly before he sat down on the ground with a thud, his legs unable to support his bodyweight any longer. Still wheezing, Emily braced herself against a tree.

"When did we get this old?" Derek laughed.

"Speak for yourself." Emily quipped. "I'm only thirty. You're the one pushing forty."

"I'm only thirty-four, Prentiss."

"Exactly."

Their huffing and puffing quickly turned into delirious laughter, a product of both the physical and mental exhaustion that came with the end of a three-day case. Emily laughed so hard that she too ended up sitting on the ground with her back rested against a tree. When her laughter slowly died out, Derek eyed her carefully. When he realized that the tears rolling down her cheeks were no longer from laughter, he slid over next to her and nudged her lightly with his knee.

"Do you want to talk about her?" He asked.

Wiping away her tears, Emily shook her head.

"There's not much to talk about." She stated with a sniffle.

"You can't lie to me, Princess." Derek protested. "You know that."

With a sigh of concession, she spoke.

"She hates me."

Derek paused for a moment, contemplating the right thing to say.

"Something tells me that she just _wants_ to hate you."

"Yeah, sure." Emily scoffed. "Dani quite explicitly told me she wants nothing to do with me."

"She's what, fifteen?"

Emily nodded her response as she wiped away more tears.

"I think it's safe to assume that Dani has had to do more growing up in fifteen years than any kid should have to- "

"And that's my fault." Emily interrupted.

"But it's not." Derek countered. "You did what was right for both you and your child at the time. What happened after that had nothing to do with you."

Emily's phone ringing broke through the contemplative silence that had fallen over the both of them. Quickly, she pulled her phone out and answered it.

"Hey, JJ." She greeted. "Yeah, we're on our way down now…. Alright, see you in a bit."

"Did she think we got lost?" Derek chuckled as he pushed himself off the ground and shook out his legs before helping Emily to her feet.

"She was just making sure I didn't throw you off a bluff." Emily breathed. "Which I've considered."

"Nah, you'd miss me too much, Princess."

"Let's just get off this damn mountain before you're the one who starts crying."

* * *

"How come you get to skip school, but I don't?" Sam whined as Dani practically dragged her down the sidewalk.

"Because I have something I have to do."

"Why can't I go do it with you?"

"Because you have to go to school." Dani snipped, clearly becoming annoyed.

Sam dug her heels into the thin layer of packed-in snow that covered the sidewalk, effectively stopping both of them in their tracks.

"I don't even like school." She huffed. "I'm not a freaky genius like you are. It's hard for me."

With a sigh, Dani knelt down in front of the young girl, ignoring the bite of the cold snow against the skin of her knee that was peeking out from her ripped jeans.

"I thought you were doing well." She said softly. "Your grades are good. Reading scores are up."

Frustrated tears welled up in Sam's eyes, and she stomped her foot. The way she winced when her foot hit the ground reminded Dani that she needed new boots, as the ones she was wearing were getting too small. She prayed that Sam's growth spurt would slow soon.

"I can't do math. It's too hard."

"Are you still working on multiplication?" Dani asked as she wiped away a single tear that Sam had allowed to fall.

Sam sniffled and nodded.

"Tell you what." Dani started. "Tonight, we'll sit down, and I'll help you with it. Maybe the other girls will have homework to do, too. Becky can make snacks, and we'll make it fun."

"I guess that could be alright." Sam grumbled.

Dani smiled and swatted the bill of Sam's hat down, earning a reluctant, but bright smile.

"Now let's go, you're going to be late."

Dani grabbed Sam's hand once again and continued to pull her towards school as the young girl dragged her feet.

"Are you gonna tell me what the thing that you have to do is?"

"Nope." Dani answered, popping the "p" for emphasis.

Sam released a dramatic groan and started to drag her feet more before mumbling a question that elicited a bark of laughter from Dani.

"Have I ever told you that you're no fun?"

* * *

"Jesus, man would you let me go?"

Loud protests and heavy footsteps heading into the bullpen from the elevator gained the attention of every member of the BAU. JJ, who was sitting on the edge of Emily's desk as they reviewed an old case, was the first to look up.

"Em." She breathed, tapping Emily on the shoulder.

"Hm?"

Emily looked up, and immediately shot up from her chair when she saw one of the first-floor security guards holding Dani by the arm and walking towards them. The security guard was well over six feet, meaning that he towered over Dani, and his grasp on her made it so her shoulder was up near her ear.

"This one says she wants to see you." He announced in an empty, monotone voice. "I don't let visitors in without an agent escort."

"_This one _has a name." Dani grumbled.

When Derek snorted out a laugh, Penelope elbowed him in the ribs without taking her wide eyes off the scene unfolding before them.

"I don't get paid to learn names." The guard responded before dropping his irritated gaze back to Emily. "You know her?"

"Yes, now would you let her go?" Emily snapped. "She's a fifteen-year-old girl for God's sake."

Rolling his eyes, he released Dani's arm and spun on his heel to go back toward the elevator. Rubbing her shoulder, Dani called after him.

"Have a fantastic day, Lennie Smalls!"

"My name is Don." The man answered, yelling over his shoulder.

"Ah, not a Steinbeck fan, I see." Dani muttered, continuing to knead her shoulder.

A bright, giddy laugh escaped Reid's mouth as soon as the reference hit him. Garcia threw a wadded piece of paper at his head.

"Hey, Penelope." Dani greeted, waving at the technical analyst. "Nice aim."

"Is everything okay?" Emily asked, stepping closer to the teen. "Why're you here?"

Dani's eyes snapped from Penelope to Emily, and her smile faded instantly. Without saying a word, Dani reached into her bag. Emily watched, confused, as she harshly threw down a stack of 100-dollar bills that were held together with a thick rubber band. After the stack of money, she placed a piece of paper with nothing but the initials A.E.P signed on it. Emily looked from the desk to Dani a few times, confused.

"What's this?" She asked.

"You tell me." Dani snapped. "Why claim that you know nothing about me, when this whole time you've been sending me money? What're you playing at? Is this some sort of guilt reparation?"

"Dani, I have no idea what you're talking about." Emily insisted. "This isn't from me."

"Bullshit. Those are your initials."

"Okay, ladies." JJ interjected. "Maybe this isn't the best place to have this conversation."

"No, I think this is a good place to have it." Dani countered. "I want other people to hear this explanation, because everything I can come up with sounds insane. I need to know that I'm not the crazy one."

"Alright, you know what- "JJ started.

"A.E.P." Emily mumbled, cutting JJ off. "Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss."

"Who?" Dani questioned.

"My mother. This is her handwriting."

"Y-your mother." Dani stuttered. "As in my biological grandmother."

Emily crumpled the signed piece of paper in her hands and swallowed harshly. Slowly, she turned towards Hotch's office, knowing he was watching from the second floor balcony.

"Hotch, if we don't have a case, I'd like to take the day. There's something I have to do."

Wordlessly, but with a hint of an encouraging smile, Hotch nodded and walked back into his office. Immediately, Emily pulled on her jacket and swiped the stack of money from her desk. She held it out to Dani, who was watching her closely.

"You keep this." Emily directed. "She has plenty of money."

"I don't want it." Dani insisted. "I'm no one's charity."

With a sigh, Emily shoved the money into her purse before perching it on her shoulder.

"Where are you going?" JJ asked, worry evident in her voice.

"I need to speak to my mother."

Dani looked down for a second, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth as she contemplated asking the question that was threatening the tip of her tongue. Before she could decide against it, she was already asking.

"Can I come with?"

Penelope excitedly hit Derek on the shoulder. Wincing, he grabbed onto her frantic hands to keep them still. Emily eyed Dani closely, unsure of whether she had actually heard her correctly.

"You want to come with me?"

Dani took a deep breath, lifted her chin, and rolled her shoulders back confidently.

"Based on your reaction to all of this, I'd say she owes both of us an explanation, don't you think?"

Unable to hide the smile that tugged at her lips, Emily nodded.

"Yes." She responded. "Yes, I do."

* * *

The drive from Quantico to Elizabeth Prentiss's mansion was going to take at least an hour in midday traffic, and the first fifteen minutes had already felt like several hours. Neither Emily, nor Dani had spoken a word. The only sound in the car was coming from the quiet music playing from the radio. Emily was staring straight out the windshield, watching the standstill traffic while Dani toyed with the frayed strap of her bag.

Shocking Emily out of her rehearsal of what she was going to say to her mother, Dani spoke up.

"This isn't some mutually angry bonding, you know."

Emily glanced at the younger brunette for a second before directing her attention back to the traffic. Nervously, she flexed her hands on the steering wheel a couple times before speaking.

"I didn't think it was."

"Okay, good." Dani nodded. "Because I'm not even sure why you're angry."

All Emily got the chance to do was open up her mouth to speak before Dani continued talking.

"I mean, yeah maybe it's shitty for you to find out that your mom knew where I was this whole time, but you're the one who gave me up in the first place. Not her."

"You're right. I did make the choice to give you up." Emily affirmed, swallowing the sting of Dani's words. "But, to be fair, you weren't there. You have no idea about what happened."

"Apparently neither of us do."

When an idea struck her, Emily quickly dialed Garcia's number. After a few rings, she answered. Emily decided to keep the call on speaker.

"_Emily Prentiss, the strange and beautiful."_ Garcia greeted. _"To what do I owe the pleasure? Need me to disable the security system of Mommy Dearest's castle?"_

"Not yet, Pen." Emily chuckled. "I need you to look for paperwork that I filled out about Dani's adoption. It would've been around four months before she was born, so go back to February of that year."

Emily didn't miss the surprise on Dani's face when she realized that Emily didn't even have to think about when her birthday was. The sound of Penelope typing filtered into the car for a few seconds before Penelope spoke again.

"_Aha! I'm assuming that Richiesta d'Adozione is what you're looking for."_

"Perfect." Emily affirmed. "Now, can you find out why that paperwork never went through?"

"_I think I can do that. One sec."_

"What're you checking?" Dani questioned, whispering so that only Emily could hear her.

The only response Emily gave was a reassuring wink.

"_Emily?"_

"Yeah, I'm still here. What do have?"

"_I found Dani's intake papers from Wings of Love… they're signed by your mother. She's the one who dropped Dani off at the orphanage. I also found information on the couple that you had arranged to adopt Dani way before she was born, and they formally adopted a little girl the day after you had Dani."_

"Wait." Dani jumped in. "So, you're saying that my own Grandmother gave me to that place?"

"_It's looking like it, Sugar."_

Anger boiled in Emily's veins. She clenched her jaw so tightly that her vision blurred. Releasing a bitter, shocked laugh, Dani fell back against her seat.

"Thanks, Garcia. I'll talk to you later." Emily stated hollowly before hanging up.

Silence filled the car once again as both Emily and Dani absorbed the information that they were just given. After a few minutes of picking at her nails, Dani cleared her throat.

"Sorry that uh… Sorry that I yelled at you back at Headquarters or whatever." She mumbled.

Emily lightly pressed on the gas as traffic began to move.

"I don't blame you for yelling." Emily insisted. "I would've too."

"We're still not bonding." Dani vowed.

"Noted."

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are much appreciated.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi! Here's chapter 4!**

**This chapter gets kinda intense. Dani goes into more detail about her time in the orphanage and with her adoptive parents. There's also another scene that gets a tad emotional.**

**I really hope you all like it.**

**Peace and love**

**-C**

Emily knocked on the front door of her mother's mansion so harshly that it was a wonder there wasn't a dent in it. When Dani flinched at her side and quickly tried to play it off, Emily gave her an apologetic glance. Dani answered with nothing more than a non-committal shrug. After several seconds with no answer, Dani sighed in frustration and knocked on the door herself, just as hard as Emily had. This time, the door flew open, revealing a very pissed-off looking maid. As soon as the maid saw who was at the door, her expression softened.

"Miss Prentiss? What're you doing here?" She questioned in a thick Russian accent, her gaze drifting to Dani. "Who is this?"

"Irina, please call me Emily." Emily requested kindly. "This is Dani."

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Dani." Irina greeted.

Dani stepped forward and offered her hand for Irina to shake, effortlessly slipping into perfect Russian as she greeted the older woman and insisted that Irina drop the formalities. If Emily hadn't been so shocked herself, she would have laughed at how Irina's eyes widened dramatically.

"You speak better Russian than some Russians do." Irina praised, chuckling.

"Much better than I do." Emily agreed. "And I lived in Moscow for three years."

Emily's heart warmed at the blush that crept up Dani's neck to her cheeks.

"Thank you." The teen muttered.

"Irina, who is at the door?"

Dani's spine stiffened so quickly at the sound of Ambassador Prentiss's voice coming from inside the mansion that Emily was afraid it would snap like a rubber band that was being pulled too tight.

"Please, come in." Irina insisted, stepping aside and ushering them in.

As soon as they stepped into the foyer, Ambassador Prentiss entered from another room. When her eyes landed on Emily, she stopped in her tracks.

"Oh, hello, Emily." She greeted. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Emily turned to face her mother, and Dani moved so she stood beside Emily, directly in the Ambassador's line of sight. She watched as Ambassador Prentiss attempted to hide her initial realization and shock of who she was looking at, and then cover it up with a cold smile that never reached her eyes. The Ambassador's eyes bore into her, making her stomach twist into knots. Every fiber in her being wanted to move so she was behind Emily again, but instead, she mimicked the Agent's confident posture.

When Emily sensed Dani's sudden discomfort, she instinctually took a small step closer, relieved when Dani didn't move away.

"Who is this?" Elizabeth questioned.

Emily released a bitter laugh and shook her head.

"Don't even try to pretend that you don't know who she is, Mother." She snarled.

Elizabeth let out a tired sigh and turned on her heel, heading back into her study. When Emily stormed after her, Dani followed behind.

"You need to explain all of this." Emily demanded.

"Explain all of _what_, Emily?" The Ambassador inquired from where she now sat behind her desk.

Dani couldn't help but marvel at the room she had entered. In any other situation, she would have immediately gone to one of the numerous bookshelves lining the walls, pulled out the first book her hand landed on, and read the entire thing in one sitting.

"I will not play your games. Explain to me why you intercepted Dani's adoption, why you sent her to some 'elite' orphanage instead." Emily snapped before reaching into her purse, pulling out the stack of cash that Dani had brought her, and slamming it down on her mother's mahogany desk. "And then you explain to Dani what the hell this is."

"I did you both a favor."

That caught Dani's attention. Her gaze snapped away from the hundreds of books that were surrounding them and surged forward so she stood one step ahead of Emily.

"A _favor_?" She barked. "You call sending me to that place a favor? Do you have any idea what it was like?"

"They provided you with an education." Elizabeth stated dismissively. "If it weren't for that orphanage, you never would have sat down on at a piano or learned the languages you did. Any gifts you may have are all because of where I sent you."

"I had a lovely couple lined up to adopt her, mother." Emily interjected. "They would have given her a good life."

"They were simple people with a lackluster life." Elizabeth scoffed. "Hardly a good enough life for the granddaughter of an Ambassador. Besides, they found another child to adopt after I guided them to her."

"Why did you do it?" Emily breathed, her anger turning into grief for the life that her daughter could have had.

"Wings of Love was the best place for Daniella. They taught her valuable skills. Turned her into a prodigy, and when she was six, they offered her a loving family- "

Elizabeth's speech was interrupted when Dani slammed both of her hands down on the desk, her face mere inches from the Ambassador's. Elizabeth's eyes fleeted down to the scars on Dani's knuckles and she swallowed harshly.

"My _gifts_ as you call them did not come free, Ambassador." Dani spat, her voice dropping dangerously low. "As soon as they realized that I was unlike the other children, they began hammering me with languages, withholding meals every day until they deemed that I had made enough progress. They sat me down in front of a piano at age two after realizing that I had an affinity for music. If I played a wrong note, ten lashes to my hands with a _metal_ ruler. When Amelia and Conrad Moretti came along, Conrad was _fascinated_ by how they had conditioned me into a prodigy. So of course, he had to continue their methods. "

Emily's stomach turned as she listened. Her blood was boiling, her head was spinning, and her heart ached for the broken girl before her. She didn't want to hear any more, but at the same time, she couldn't get her feet to carry her to Dani's side.

"'_You're going to make me a fortune, Daniella'_. _'Greatness does not come without pain, little girl.'_." Dani mimicked. "Don't you _dare_ claim that you did me a favor. You stole any chance I had at a normal life with a loving family, and for that, these scars are as much your doing as they are of the people you gave me to."

When Dani's voice broke with impending tears and her body began to shake, Emily was finally able to force herself forward. Gently, she placed a comforting hand on Dani's arm and directed her away from the desk.

"I think we're done here." She said softly.

Dani nodded in agreement and wiped the tears from her eyes before turning to Elizabeth, who's skin had paled several shades.

"Keep your money." Dani bit. "Find someone else to accept your charity."

Dani swiftly turned and exited the room. For a moment, Emily kept her gaze on her mother, her expression portraying the disgust and betrayal that she felt.

"I truly hope you hate yourself at the moment, Mother."

Without waiting for a response, Emily hurried after Dani, finding her braced against the car with her hands on her knees, breathing deeply. Carefully, she approached Dani. Just as she was about to place a comforting hand on Dani's back, the teen sucked in a harsh breath and stood, clearing her throat.

"I need to get back." Dani stated.

"Dani, I- "

"Don't." Dani interrupted coldly. "Forget this ever happened."

"But- "

"_Please_, Emily."

Swallowing her words and her worry, Emily nodded solemnly in agreement before heading to the driver's side of the car.

The car ride back to Quantico was completely silent.

* * *

Emily dragged herself through the front door of her and JJ's townhouse, smiling gratefully when her eyes landed on JJ's messily discarded high heels in the entryway. Her smile grew when the sound of JJ humming along to a song on the radio reached her ears.

"Babe?" Emily called, slowly walking into the kitchen.

JJ spun around from the stove with a bright smile. As soon as she saw Emily's red, puffy eyes and slumped shoulders, she abandoned the dinner she was cooking and immediately pulled Emily into the living room and down onto the couch. Emily laid her head in JJ's lap and sighed contently when JJ's fingers threaded through her hair.

"What happened with your mom?" JJ inquired.

"She refused to even acknowledge the fact that what she did was wrong."

"How did Dani handle the situation?"

"She blames my mother for everything she went through and made it very clear. God, Jay, the things they did to her… I don't think I'll ever get the thought of it out of my head."

JJ listened as Emily explained everything that Dani had revealed in her outburst toward the Ambassador. By the end of it, Emily was sobbing, her tears leaking through JJ's jeans. JJ continued to run her fingers through Emily's hair, whispering to her quietly until her crying subsided.

"Oh." JJ said softly, digging in her pocket and pulling out a slip of paper. "Penelope told me to give this to you."

With a quizzical gaze, Emily took the slip of paper. When she saw what Penelope had written on it, she thanked her lucky stars that she had Penelope Garcia in her corner.

_DC family court_

_January 26__th__, 11:30 A.M._

* * *

"All rise for the Honorable Judge Galloway."

Dani shot up from her seat and nervously smoothed down her second-hand blazer that was a size too big. Mona, her case worker, noticed Dani's fidgeting and elbowed her lightly. Swallowing hard, Dani watched as the judge entered the courtroom. She guessed he was nearing seventy years old, but his harsh eyes and tall stature made him much more intimidating than she had anticipated.

"You may be seated." Judge Galloway announced.

Just as Dani and Mona took their seats, the doors in the back of the courtroom opened. Dani whipped around in her chair. When her eyes landed on Emily and JJ slipping into a bench in the back of the courtroom, she immediately spun right back to face the judge. Sam was sitting directly behind Dani, and she could feel the young girl vibrating with excitement after realizing who had just entered the room.

"_Dani_." Sam whisper yelled. "_Is that your Not Mom?"_

The sound of Judge Galloway clearing his throat loudly shut Sam up right away. After perching his glasses on the bridge of his nose, Judge Galloway began reading one of the papers that was placed in front of him.

"Your name is Daniella Moretti, correct?" He clarified.

"Yes, Your Honor." Dani nodded.

"And you are here in the hopes that I will declare your emancipation."

Again, Dani nodded.

"Speak when I ask you a question, young lady." He demanded.

"Y-yes, Your Honor." Dani stammered. "I am."

Silence filled the courtroom as Judge Galloway continued to read over the various papers on his bench.

"Well, that's quite wishful thinking of you." He muttered.

"I'm sorry?" Dani scoffed. "I filled everything out. Everything is signed, notarized, and in order."

"Dani, tone it down." Mona warned.

Visibly irritated, Judge Galloway pulled one piece of paper out of the stack and cleared his throat.

"Can you tell me how many times you have gone to school in the past month, Miss Moretti?"

"Not off the top of my head." Dani snipped. "… Your Honor."

"Eight." He stated. "Eight days out of twenty-two."

"What does that have to do with- "

Pulling out another page, he interrupted Dani's protest.

"Two citations for shop-lifting, one for trespassing, and another for underage drinking." He read aloud. "Care to explain those?"

"I only tried to steal things that I needed." Dani insisted. "It's not my fault that the system doesn't have the resources to provide for the children in it."

"She steals things for me, Mister Judge!" Sam interjected, jumping up from her seat. "It's my fault."

Dani spun around and gently guided Sam back into her chair by her shoulders.

"Be quiet. It'll be okay."

"That still does not explain the trespassing and underage drinking. Not to mention, it says here that you have been removed from six group homes for disruptive behavior and breaking curfew."

"I'm fifteen, your honor." Dani breathed. "Those are normal things for teenagers to have on their records."

"My point exactly."

When Mona let out a deep sigh, Dani knew her chances of becoming emancipated were over. She listened, holding back tears, as Judge Galloway continued.

"You have not proven to the court that you are responsible enough to be considered your own guardian. It is clear that you lack structure and impulse control. I refuse to grant your emancipation."

Dani dropped her gaze to her lap. When Mona attempted to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, she shrugged it off. The sound of rustling papers caught her attention, and she looked up once again. She watched closely as he read over another document before dragging his gaze up and to the back of the courtroom.

"You." He called, pointing to Emily. "Are you Emily Prentiss?"

Slowly, Emily stood, clasping her hands in front of her.

"Yes, Your Honor."

"What do you do for a living, Miss Prentiss?"

"I am a Supervisory Special Agent with the FBI, sir."

Impressed, Judge Galloway nodded.

"And who are you?" He continued, pointing to JJ.

"My name is Jennifer Jareau, Your Honor." She stated, standing. "I am Agent Prentiss's girlfriend."

"And your job is?"

"I am the communications liaison for the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit."

"Excuse me." Dani interjected. "What does this have to do with me?"

"I am nullifying Agent Prentiss's relinquishment of parental rights." He announced, stamping one of the papers in front of him.

"What?" Dani exclaimed, darting up from her chair. "You can't do that!"

Ignoring Dani's outburst, Judge Galloway looked up at Emily and JJ.

"Do you have the means to support Daniella?" He asked.

Emily hesitated, unsure of where JJ's head was at with the entire thing. They had only been dating for a year, and had discussed the possibility of children, but it never went past a "what if".

"We do, Your Honor." JJ answered, reaching down and grabbing Emily's hand.

"This is absurd!" Dani argued. "Agent Prentiss signed her rights away! She doesn't want me! Just send me back to New Hope, Your honor."

When the judge leaned forward onto his bench and narrowed his eyes at Dani, she swallowed audibly.

"Young Lady, most parents that I encounter do not care enough to come to hearings like this. They hardly even come to hearings that begin as custody hearings. And most of the time, if they do, they make no effort to maintain custody of their child." He told her. "You should really think about that and consider yourself lucky that your mother and Agent Jareau are here. Maybe this could be a second chance for you."

"I want to go back to New Hope." Dani insisted.

"I cannot in good conscience allow you to take up a bed when you are not in need of it. There are plenty of other girls in need of your space at New Hope."

Completely defeated, Dani dropped herself back into her chair. Not allowing any more room for argument, Judge Galloway addressed Emily and JJ, who were still standing awkwardly in the back of the room, completely shocked.

"I am granting you custody of Daniella, Agent Prentiss. Her case worker will arrange a date for a home safety check with you, and pending the results of that, she will decide if Daniella's placement with you will be permanent." He instructed, earning nods of understanding from the two women.

He looked back to Dani, who hadn't lifted her gaze since sitting down.

"I really do mean it, Miss Moretti." Judge Galloway sighed. "This could be your second chance."

* * *

"Samantha, you need to let her go." Becky grunted, attempting to pull the nine-year-old off of Dani.

"No!" Sam screamed, holding onto Dani's arm to tightly that she was sure to leave bruises.

Tears were streaming down Dani's cheeks as she watched the girl who had grown into her little sister cling to her, kicking and screaming as Becky yanked on her. Mona was putting Dani's things in the trunk of her car, watching the whole scene unfold.

"Becky, let me talk to her?" Dani requested.

Reluctantly, Becky nodded and released her hold on Sam. As soon as she let go, Sam threw herself into Dani's arms, wrapping her own around the older girl's neck and burying her face in her shoulder.

"Don't go." Sam pleaded.

"I have to go."

"Don't go."

"I have to."

"I need you here." Sam sobbed. "You're my best friend."

"I'll always be your best friend." Dani assured her. "Mona wrote down Emily's address for Becky. You can write me letters, and I'll come visit whenever I can."

"It's not the same."

"I know… but it has to be enough right now." Dani whispered, hugging Sam tighter. "I'm always here for you, okay?"

Sam nodded the smallest nod possible against Dani's shoulder, wailing when Dani pulled away and placed her into Becky's arms.

"Take care of her, please." Dani pleaded, addressing Becky.

"Of course, Dani." Becky nodded. "You're welcome to visit any time."

With a sad nod, Dani opened the passenger side door of Mona's car and got in. Before closing the door, she waved to the rest of the girls in the group home, who had been watching from the porch. They all waved back as Mona pulled the car away from the curb.

Sam was crying so loudly that Dani could hear her until Mona rounded the corner.

* * *

Emily had been pacing the living room for nearly two hours, biting her nails anxiously. She and JJ had spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the house, preparing their guest room for a permanent resident, and updating Hotch on what had happened. He had given them the next couple days off so they could enroll Dani in school and get adjusted. JJ came jogging down the stairs from the guest room. When she saw Emily pacing, she cut her path off by lightly grabbing her by the shoulders.

"It's going to be okay." JJ insisted, placing a light kiss on Emily's lips.

"I can't believe you're okay with this." Emily breathed. "We've only been living together for three months. Only been together for a year- "

"But I've known you for almost four years." JJ interrupted. "I love you, Emily. And Dani is a part of you. You told me about her before we were together. If I'm being honest, I always had a feeling she would show up at some point."

"You're incredible, you know that?" Emily smiled.

As soon as she finished her sentence, the doorbell rang. Emily took a deep breath and headed to the door with JJ by her side. Emily opened the door, revealing Mona and a very unhappy Dani.

"Good evening, Agents." Mona smiled.

"Please, call us Emily and JJ." JJ insisted, earning a nod from Mona.

Emily ushered them inside and closed the door behind them.

"So, how does this work?" Emily inquired.

"She makes sure you don't have drugs sitting out, makes you sign something, and then she leaves." Dani muttered.

Mona laughed awkwardly and shook her head.

"That's not quite how it goes." She corrected. "I do need to see where Dani will be sleeping, and we need to set up a time for your home inspection."

"Right." JJ nodded. "Well, her room is right up here."

JJ lead them upstairs to what had been the guest room. It was a large room with crisp white walls, grey carpeting, a luxurious-looking queen-sized bed, and a walk-in closet. Mona let out a low, impressed whistle as she entered the room and began checking boxes on her clipboard.

"Obviously, Dani, you can make this room yours." JJ smiled. "Tomorrow the three of us can go pick out some things that you like. Maybe we can con Derek into helping us paint the walls."

Wordlessly, Dani shrugged as she placed her only suitcase onto the bed.

Emily leaned against the doorway and shoved her hands in her pockets to keep herself from chewing her nails. When Mona finished her sweep of Dani's room, she turned to Emily and JJ and cleared her throat uncomfortably.

"Due to the nature of your jobs, I have to ask." She began. "Do you keep your service weapons in a safe?"

"Absolutely." Emily nodded. "They're code-operated and kept out of sight."

"Good." Mona breathed. "If not, that really could've damaged your home inspection."

* * *

Three hours later, Dani was sitting in the middle of her new bed, fully immersed in a book. A knock at her door broke her concentration, and she looked up, finding JJ and Emily peaking in through the open doorway.

"Hey." Emily greeted. "Do you mind if we come in?"

Reluctantly, Dani nodded and closed her book. With warm smiles, JJ and Emily entered the room. JJ leaned against the dresser opposite the bed while Emily perched herself on the edge of the bed.

"We just wanted to make sure you were okay. We know this isn't easy for you."

"I'm fine." Dani stated.

"It's okay if you're not." JJ added.

"I'm fine." Dani repeated, harsher this time. "So, how's this going to go?"

"What do you mean?" Emily questioned.

"I mean, what do you want me to do? What're the conditions of me living here?"

JJ and Emily shared a confused glance before JJ cleared her throat to speak.

"All we want is for you to be happy. This is your home now, too."

"Well, we expect you to go to school." Emily interjected. "No more of this "eight days a month" thing. There's a really wonderful private school just down the block, and I think they can provide you with enough of a challenge to keep you engaged."

"And they have great sports teams, if you're interested." JJ added.

Neither of them missed the way Dani perked up a bit at the mention of sports.

"That could be cool, I guess." Dani sighed, attempting to brush off her show of interest.

Emily looked to JJ, who gave her a quick wink.

"I was thinking." Emily started, earning Dani's attention. "We could possibly look for a piano teacher in the area, if you wanted to get back to playing."

Dani's expression steeled immediately. Her eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched, and Emily watched as any progress she had made in the past few days washed away.

"I don't play anymore." Dani gritted.

"But I thought- "

"I don't care what you thought." Dani snapped. "I don't play piano anymore, and that's that."

Understanding that she had pushed too hard, Emily nodded and stood from the bed. Both she and JJ walked to the door, pausing just inside the doorway.

"It's late, maybe try to get some sleep." Emily suggested. "Our room is right down the hall. Come get us if you need anything."

Dani said nothing in response and went back to reading her book. Defeated, both women trudged back to their room and simultaneously threw themselves onto their bed.

"She hates me." Emily stated.

"No, she doesn't, babe." JJ assured her. "It's just been a rough day."

Emily shook her head as she reached over and shut off the lamp on her nightstand.

"It's been a rough fifteen years."

**I hope you liked this chapter! Reviews are so appreciated.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi everyone! I am absolutely astounded by all of your kind words, and I truly appreciate it. This chapter is a bit short, but the idea hit me a couple hours ago, and I wanted to get it written before it got too late. Hopefully, I will have another chapter up tomorrow evening. I will most definitely have one up this weekend.**

**Peace and love**

**-C**

Dani couldn't remember the last time she had gotten up in time for school, but Emily had made sure she did. At 6 in the morning, the older brunette opened her bedroom door and flipped on the light before calling out into Dani's room.

"First day of school, Dani." She announced. "Time to get up."

Dani grumbled in response as she pulled herself up into a sitting position against her headboard. With tired eyes, she looked down and admired the new bedspread that she had picked out two days earlier. The intricate, black and white designs of her duvet were elegant and stylish, but still made it look like it could belong to a teenager. JJ had made sure that they picked out sheets to complement the duvet, opting for a bright blue for a pop of color. Dani was fairly sure that the blonde had grabbed the highest thread-count sheets, which she insisted was unnecessary, but JJ smiled brightly and put them in the cart anyway.

Dani's eyes drifted around her room, and the corner of her lips turned up at the stack of books sitting on her dresser that hadn't been there the night before. She recognized them from Emily's bookshelf, which she had been admiring since she had moved in. With a sigh, Dani pushed herself out of bed and went into the bathroom attached to her bedroom. She looked in the mirror and frowned at what she saw. The dark circles under her eyes gave away the fact that she hardly slept. In fact, she had no idea when she had last slept through the night.

With a dismissive shake of her head, Dani began getting ready for school. After showering, and drying her hair, she went back into her room. Purposely not giving it any thought, she dressed herself in her new school uniform. After she was dressed, she gazed at her reflection in the mirror and frowned. With narrowed eyes, she took in the grey and blue checkered skirt, crisp, white button-up shirt, navy blue blazer, and tie.

A knock at her door interrupted Dani's scrutiny of her outfit and tore her gaze away from the mirror. Emily was standing in her doorway, dressed in a charcoal pantsuit and red shirt, with her service weapon perched proudly on her hip.

"You look good." Emily assured her, entering the room and moving to stand beside Dani in the mirror.

They both studied each other in the mirror, shocked at exactly how similar they looked. Dani's eyes were a touch lighter than Emily's, but they held the same stoic gaze. Their hair was identical, the dark color contrasting greatly against their alabaster skin. Emily's lips curled into a tentative smile.

"Your tie is crooked." She stated softly.

Dani's hands immediately went up to her neck, tugging at the knot of her tie roughly. The second she pulled on the tie, the knot at the base of her neck came undone and she let out a frustrated grunt. Emily couldn't help the amused chuckle that rumbled up from her chest.

"I don't know how the hell this thing is supposed to go." Dani grumbled.

"Can I help?" Emily asked.

With the most careful consideration and hesitation, Dani nodded as she turned to face Emily. Gingerly, Emily reached up and did Dani's tie, making sure she focused her gaze on what she was doing, although she could have easily done it with her eyes closed. Dani's eyes were turned up to the ceiling. Her cheeks flushed red, and her eyes glistened with the threat of tears. Once Emily had finished tying the young girl's tie, she straightened it, along with the collar of Dani's shirt, and smoothed down the shoulders of her blazer for good measure. When Dani sniffled harshly, Emily lifted her gaze and realized that a single tear had escaped from Dani's eye.

"Dani- "She started, only to be cut off.

"Thanks." Dani mumbled as she snaked around Emily, grabbed her backpack from her bed, and darted down the stairs.

As soon as Dani made it to the first floor of the house, a glorious smell coming from the kitchen invaded her senses. Slowly, she made her way into the kitchen to find JJ standing at the stove, flipping pancakes.

"Good morning!" JJ greeted, smiling brightly.

"Morning."

"Have a seat, breakfast is almost ready."

Dani did as she was told and took a seat at one of the stools sitting on the opposite side of the kitchen island. She poured herself a glass of orange juice and took a hesitant sip as JJ spun around and placed the last pancake on the tall stack that was already there. Just as JJ placed the stack of pancakes in the middle of the counter, Emily came sauntering into the kitchen.

"You've never made me pancakes!" Emily exclaimed teasingly.

"That is a lie and you know it, Emily Prentiss." JJ laughed, rolling her eyes.

Lovingly, Emily gave JJ a chaste kiss before slyly reaching behind her and grabbing a piece of bacon from the plate sitting on the counter. Dani watched the interaction closely as she chewed a bite of her breakfast. Over the last three days, Dani had watched Emily and JJ co-exist in the most effortless way possible. They did everything as a unit. JJ cooked; Emily washed dishes. Emily drove; JJ picked the radio station. They answered each other's phones without thought or hesitation, and they spoke so tenderly and openly that it genuinely shocked Dani. Never in her life had she seen a couple complement each other in the way that Emily and JJ did.

"How long have you two been together?" Dani inquired, surprised when the question came out of her mouth.

"Just over a year." JJ answered warmly, also clearly surprised at Dani's show of interest in getting to know them.

Dani nodded in response as she shoveled another bite of pancake into her mouth. JJ's default setting of kindness had thrown Dani off. She had expected the blonde to be indifferent toward her at best, frustrated with the fact that she was only thirty years old and now had to care for a teenager who wasn't even her own kid. However, JJ had welcomed her with open arms. She asked questions and gave Dani compliments, and had spent the past few days making sure that Dani was nothing less than comfortable.

"We need to be in the car in fifteen minutes are we're all going to be late." Emily announced as she took a long swig of her coffee.

Quickly, Dani finished her breakfast and helped JJ cleanup, which the blonde had thanked her for several times. As Emily finished her coffee, she glanced at her watch.

"It's 7:15, ladies. Time to head out."

* * *

Washington Prep looked more like a castle than a high school. Tall, stone buildings covered in ivy casted shadows on brick walkways and fountains. Huge, oak doors signified the main entrance of the school. The floors were a pristine white linoleum, paired with dark wood classroom doors and oak desks. The hundreds of modern, steel lockers lining every hallway in the building seemed out of place with their alternating colors of purple and black- the school colors.

Dani had had to convince Emily and JJ that she didn't need to be escorted into school. They had already registered her for classes and seeing as it was the beginning of a new semester, Dani didn't expect any issue catching up in class. Although, she had never truly had to pay attention in any of her classes growing up. Seeing as she was a genius, or whatever it was that other people wanted to classify her as, school came naturally. Or at least academics did. The structure and people? Not so much.

Dani had been placed in the highest level of French, despite the fact that she was only a freshman. Washington Prep only offered three languages, all of which she spoke fluently. She had reluctantly signed up for French after deciding that she didn't want to listen to some middle-aged man lecture in Italian- her first language. Her French was a bit rusty, anyway. As soon as she walked into French class, she made a beeline for a desk in the back row. She sat down, placed her backpack at her feet, and slouched down into her chair. Other students started to filter into the classroom, and Dani prayed that none of them would try to talk to her. She focused her attention on The Picture of Dorian Gray, one of the books that Emily had left on her dresser this morning. As she read, flipping the pages quickly, she felt a pair of eyes watching her. Hesitantly, she looked up from her book to find a tall, dark-haired boy with crystal blue eyes in a letterman jacket over his blazer watching her from his desk next to her.

"You don't actually read that fast, do you?" He questioned.

Dani gave him nothing more than a single-shouldered shrug and went back to reading.

"I don't think I've seen you before." The boy continued. "You're new."

"Very observant." Dani muttered, flipping to the next page of her book.

"My name is Nathan. Most people call me Nate, though."

"That's nice."

"Are you not going to tell me your name?" Nate laughed.

Dani was spared from answering when the teacher strode into the room and stood at the front of the class. He was an older man sporting a beige sweater vest and corduroy pants. When he talked, his teeth whistled.

"My name is Mister Lawrence." He announced, clasping his hands in front of him. "We will go around the room and introduce ourselves in French, and I will take attendance."

Since Dani was in the back, she was subjected to listening to the rest of the class fumble over their introductions in broken French and terrible grammar. When it came to be her turn, she effortless breezed through her introduction, and every pair of eyes in the room were glued to her. Even Mister Lawrence couldn't mask his surprise.

"Parlez-vous Francais?" He inquired.

Dani nodded curtly and placed her gaze onto her desk, uncomfortable with the amount of attention she was getting. To her surprise, Nate cleared his throat loudly and did his introduction. His French was shaky, but easily the best in the class aside from Dani. She lifted her gaze to him and gave him a grateful smile, which he answered with an understanding nod.

The rest of class was a blur.

* * *

"How're things going with the kid?" Morgan asked the second Emily sat down at her desk.

Emily released a huff of a sigh and shrugged.

"One-minute things are fine, and I think I've gotten Dani to open up a bit. Then she's cold and refuses to even look at me or JJ."

"It's only been a few days." Rossi interjected. "It'll get easier."

"Most children within the foster system actually develop avoidant attachment styles that often border or cross into the realm of attachment disorders_." _Reid added from his desk. "It's possible that Dani doesn't know how to form a meaningful connection."

"But she has a best friend." Emily countered. "Her name is Sam, and she's nine. She was at the hearing."

"Maybe Dani adopted a caretaker role for Sam." Morgan suggested. "Seeing as she's younger than Dani, I wouldn't be surprised if Dani is attempting to give Sam the parental figure that she never had."

"She's trying to fix her own abandonment issues by preventing them in someone else." Rossi nodded.

"Please tell me you are not profiling Dani already." Penelope pleaded, marching into the bullpen.

"Well, she won't let me in, so I'm not sure what choice I have, Pen." Emily sighed.

"Just give the girl some time." Penelope insisted. "Her whole life has been turned upside down a hundred times in the past two weeks. Be glad she's even speaking."

The door to JJ's office flew open, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Everyone in the conference room." JJ announced. "We have a case."

* * *

Dani made it to third period World history before she ducked out of the hallway and found a place to hide. In the auditorium, directly behind the stage, was a small prop closet. Judging by the dust coating all of the props, nobody had gone digging around in there in months, so Dani took a chance that no one would stumble upon her. She tucked herself into the corner of the large closet and pulled out her book. Just as she focused her eyes onto the page, the knob on the door twisted and the door opened. Expecting to find a teacher staring down at her, Dani heaved a sigh and looked up. Instead, her eyes fell on Nate, who was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk playing at his lips.

"First day and you're already hiding?" He questioned.

"Well, seeing as you followed me here, maybe I'm right to be hiding." Dani snipped.

"I saw you book it from the hallway and wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine."

"Most people who hide by themselves in dusty prop closets aren't fine." Nate challenged.

"I'm not most people."

Nate scoffed and stepped further into the closet, offering his hand to Dani, obviously trying to help her up from the floor.

"Yeah, I'm starting to figure that out." He smirked.

"What're you doing?" Dani asked, eyeing his outstretched hand.

"This is what most people would call 'being nice'."

"Well, I don't like it." Dani stated, pushing herself up and squeezing past him on her way to the door. "Enjoy the closet."

When she closed the door on him, Nate laughed so fully that Dani couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips as she headed to her next class.

**I hope you liked this chapter! I'm sorry it was a bit short. I just got this idea and decided to run with it. Please let me know what you think. Thank you for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone! I hope you're all well.**

**There are just a couple things to clarify—After writing the previous chapter, I noticed that I named the new character William without thinking about the fact that in the show, JJ's husband's name is Will. Totally forgot. That's how much I want Emily and JJ together. Just to make sure that there isn't any confusion there, I went back and changed his name to Nathan. So, from now on, that character is named Nathan.**

**Also! Just for clarification, I placed this story around season 3. Not that it matters all that much, seeing as I don't intend on referencing really any actual cases or episodes of the show. I just thought I'd throw that out there for everyone's reference.**

**Another thing, nobody has asked for an image of what Dani may look like, but in case any of you were wondering, I picture her looking very similar to a younger Cait Fairbanks. As far as Nathan, my brain pictures a taller Nick Robinson when his hair was longer, with blue eyes.**

**If you're a visual person like me, those descriptions may help. If you're not, totally ignore what I just said and imagine them as you please! I would actually be really interested in knowing any actors or celebrities that you pictured these original characters resembling.**

**Anyway, hopping off my soapbox now. Here's chapter 6!**

**As always, peace and love**

**-C**

"So, how long do you think this case will take?"

Dani was sitting in the middle of Emily and JJ's king-sized bed with her legs crossed, a cup of tea clutched in her hands as she watched the two agents pack their go-bags so they could leave first thing in the morning. When Emily had told the younger brunette that they needed to leave for a case so soon after she had moved in, Emily couldn't help but think that she noticed a visible drop in Dani's shoulders. As if she was disappointed that they were leaving. Much to both Emily and JJ's surprise, instead of going to her room and reading right after dinner, Dani had hesitantly stood in the doorway of their room for a couple minutes, watching them pack before cautiously making her way to the center of the bed to sit directly behind the two black, leather go-bags.

"It's hard to know." Emily answered, shooting the younger brunette an apologetic glance.

"We don't usually stay longer than a week." JJ added. "Penelope will keep you updated, and we'll call when we can."

"Speaking of which…" Emily muttered, turning away from the bed and reaching into the top drawer of her nightstand. "This is for you."

When Emily pulled a cellphone out from the drawer and handed it to Dani, Dani's eyes widened in surprise. It took an encouraging nod from both Emily and JJ for the teen to hesitantly take the phone from Emily's hand.

"You're giving me a phone?" She questioned.

"Our numbers are programmed in already, as are the numbers of the rest of our team. Once you officially meet them, it'll make more sense." Emily nodded. "We're also on speed-dial. I'm programmed to number one; Jen is number two, and Penelope is number three. Since she's the one you'll be staying with when we travel, it just makes sense to have her on speed dial."

"And once you make friends at school, you can go ahead and text away." JJ smiled. "All we ask is that when we call, you answer."

"I can do that." Dani agreed, bobbing her head in a nod.

Once Emily and JJ had both zipped up their bags and placed them at the foot of the bed, Dani slid off of the bed and started to make her way out of the room.

"Hey, Dani?' Emily called, stopping Dani in her tracks.

Dani turned to face the older brunette, the corner of her lips turning up into the slightest smile.

"Thank you for being okay with all of this. We know that it's a lot of adjustment, and we know it's not easy."

"Oh-uh... It's not that big of a deal, really." Dani stammered, obviously caught off guard by the sincerity in Emily's praise. "We're all adjusting."

"Still." JJ added as she crawled into bed. "If you're ever having a hard time, you can come talk to us. Or you can call any number in that phone, and whoever is on the other end will be more than happy to listen."

Dani looked down at the phone in her hand and turned it over a couple times, running her thumb over the keyboard and the screen lightly. A lump formed in her throat, and the weight of the situation at hand hit her like a ton of bricks for the first time in the past three days. She had gone from living in a group home for girls and trying to get emancipated, to living with Emily and JJ, who were nothing less than kind and warm, and who were genuinely making an effort to get to know her.

Emily and JJ watched closely as Dani battled with whatever thoughts were racing through her head. It was something she did often, and they had caught on to it fairly quickly. When she got emotional or was given something to think about, Dani would go quiet, and she'd stare at her hands or whatever was in front of her as hundreds of emotions flashed through her eyes at record speed. This time, they watched fear settle in the young girl's eyes before fading and leaving her emotionless. Dani lifted her gaze from the phone and forced a hollow smile.

"That means a lot." She told them. "Thank you."

Without another word, Dani turned on her heel and went to her own room. As soon as she shut the door to her room, she slid down the wall to the floor, and pulled her knees to her chest. Despite every effort she gave to hold them in, tears began to flow freely, and she dropped her forehead on to her knees as all of her emotions from the past week cascaded out of her.

* * *

"So why are you taking French if you already speak it?"

It took every ounce of self-control that Dani had not to sigh at the question that had spilled from Nate's lips the second he sat down next to her. Reluctantly, she lifted her gaze from the pages of her book and allowed her eyes to land on Nate's curious, deep blue orbs. Today, Nate had his dark, shoulder-length hair pulled back into a bun, and the tie of his uniform wasn't tied all the way, leaving it hanging loosely around his neck. He had also foregone the letterman jacket, leaving him in his navy-blue uniform blazer.

"Because there isn't a language taught here that I don't already speak." Dani shrugged, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Nate scoffed and eyed her closely.

"You're telling me you speak French, Spanish, and Italian." He clarified.

"And Russian." Dani added. "English is actually my third language. I didn't learn it until I was four."

As Dani spoke, Nate leaned into her every word. A smile spread across his lips, revealing perfect, pearly white teeth.

"Which language is your first?" He inquired.

"Why do you want to know?"

Nate gave her a single-shouldered shrug and titled his head slightly to the side.

"You don't have an accent, which makes me think that you were born in America."

"That's a rather bold assumption, Nathan." Dani quipped, feigning boredom and turning her attention back to her book.

"So, I'm wrong then?" Nate asked.

"Give it some thought, and then get back to me."

Just as Nate opened his mouth to speak again, Mister Lawrence came shuffling into the room and immediately began class. Heaving a sigh, Nate leaned back in his chair and half paid attention to the lecture that Mister Lawrence was giving. The entire time, Dani never looked up from her book.

Not even when she felt Nate's intense, curious gaze on her.

* * *

Hotch couldn't remember the last time that Emily had opted to sit across from him on the plane. Since she and JJ had started dating, they sat next to each other without fail. Even if they had been fighting, they always shared the couch across from Reid and Morgan. Today, however, Emily had spoken a few short words to JJ before placing herself in the seat directly across from Hotch, leaving nothing but a small table between them. He could feel her watching him as he read over case files. When he realized that she was waiting for him to acknowledge her, he lifted his gaze and cocked a quizzical eyebrow.

"Yes?"

Emily shifted uncomfortably in her chair and cleared her throat.

"How does Jack handle you being gone so often?"

Slowly, Hotch closed the file he had been reading and placed it on the table in front of him. As he thought of his answer, he leaned back in his seat and gazed out the window.

"I'm not sure he does." He answered honestly. "He still cries every time. When I call, it's a battle to get him to hang up the phone."

Emily released a slow breath and shook her head.

"Okay." She drawled. "Then, how do you handle being gone so often?"

"I don't handle that either." Hotch stated, earning an irritated groan from Emily. "Separation anxiety is normal, Prentiss."

"Not when your kid is fifteen." Emily scoffed. "I just can't help but think that the guilt I'm feeling for leaving her is misplaced, or even delusional. I'm not even sure Dani cares that we're gone."

"You feel like any progress that you and JJ might have made with Dani will be gone once you get back." Hotch nodded. It wasn't a question.

"Whenever Dani starts to open up, she does this thing where she goes completely silent. Sometimes it's for a couple minutes or more, and we watch her feel all of these emotions all at once, and then she always comes out of it totally closed off."

"She just doesn't trust you yet." Morgan interjected as he came out of the bathroom. "You used to do the same thing with me, Princess."

"I did?"

"You did it with all of us, actually." Reid added. "Sometimes you'd even talk to yourself in Arabic so we couldn't figure out what you were thinking."

"Okay, were you all listening to everything I was saying?" Emily laughed. "Rossi? Have anything to add?"

Rossi looked up from his book and offered Emily a kind smile.

"Give Dani some time to adjust." He instructed. "You can't rush these things."

Emily sighed and nodded in understanding before getting up and going back to her normal spot on the jet. As soon as she sat down, JJ's hand landed on her thigh and squeezed comfortingly.

"It'll be okay." JJ assured her. "She'll come around."

Forcing a smile, Emily directed her attention out the window of the jet and leaned her head against the wall. This case couldn't be over fast enough.

* * *

"So, you just sit here and wait for someone to call you with a question?" Dani asked as she turned her chair in a circle slowly, taking in all of the decorations in Penelope's lair.

"Well, I do other stuff between the questions, but basically yeah."

"What kind of things to they have you look for?"

"Addresses, names, license plate numbers, stuff like that." Penelope listed.

As if on cue, the shrill ringing of the phone cut through the room, and Penelope answered on the second ring.

"All-knowing cyber genius Penelope Garcia at your service." She greeted.

"_Hi, Garcia."_ Emily responded, her sultry voice flowing through on speaker phone.

"What can we do for you, tall, dark and brooding?"

"_We?"_

"Your mini-me is here, of course." Penelope clarified.

"_Dani? What's she doing there?"_

The concern in Emily's voice didn't go unnoticed, but Dani refused to allow herself to think about it. She tucked it away into a corner of her mind and continued to examine all of the Penelope's trinkets and gadgets.

"I didn't feel right leaving her alone until I got home so I figured it could be Bring Your Teenage Italian Genius To Work Day."

"Not a genius." Dani muttered.

"I beg to differ, Sugar." Penelope chuckled. "Anyways, Emily… what can we do for you?"

"_I need you to check the security cameras outside of all three victims' apartment buildings. Look for someone who sticks out, or maybe someone who shows up more than once."_

"Can do and shall do, my dearest Badass."

"_Thank you, Pen."_ Emily chuckled. _"I'll talk to you both later. JJ says hi as well."_

Before she was even aware of her own movement, Dani had jumped up from her chair and moved across the room, so she stood closer to the speaker or the phone.

"Hey, Emily?" She called.

"_Yeah?"_

Dani hesitated for a moment, pulling her bottom lip in between her teeth. Shaking herself out of it, she backed out of what she had the impulse to say.

"Uh, never mind." She stammered. "Talk to you later."

"_Okay, yeah. Talk to you later."_

Without another word, Emily hung up and a heavy silence filled the room. After a few moments, completely aware of the fact that Penelope was watching her closely, Dani cleared her throat and sat back down. She refused to look up as she dug through her backpack for her homework. As she flipped through the pages of her textbook, Dani knew that Penelope was searching her brain for something to lighten the mood as she looked over security footage. Unable to handle the weight of the situation, Dani stood up from her chair once again.

"I'm going to go take a nap in JJ's office." She announced.

Without waiting for a response, Dani rushed out of Penelope's lair, ignoring all of the suspicious looks she got from the other agents in the hall.

She didn't even hear Penelope calling after her.

* * *

**Three weeks later**

After the bell signifying the end of last period rang, hundreds of students flooded into the halls. As usual, Dani looked straight ahead and started her way to chemistry. As she rounded the corner, her eyes landed on a hoard of students beginning to form a circle. Since they were in her way, she started to push her way through, only to find herself with a front row seat to a scene that she thought only happened in movies.

The "queen bee" of the school, Amy Mitchell, was staring down at another student, one that Dani didn't recognize, with her hands on her hips and a fire in her eyes. The other student had been knocked to the ground and was very obviously crying as she attempted to gather her books. As she reached for the last book, Amy stepped on it, making sure that she also stepped on the other girl's hand. When the other girl cried out in pain, Dani lurched forward and pushed Amy off of her.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Freak?" Amy snarled.

Dani helped the other girl up from the floor and guided her out of the circle before turning to face Amy.

"I don't think I'm the one with the issues here." She scoffed.

Amy's eyes narrowed and she pinned Dani with what Dani was sure was supposed to be an intimidating glare. She couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

"What's so funny?"

"You're just really fucking ridiculous." Dani laughed. "Probably the most cliché person I've ever met. Popular girl who secretly hates herself, so she has to make others miserable. Maybe go see a therapist."

The collective of students surrounding them erupted in a series of gasps and "oooohhh"s at Dani's statement as she turned away and started to go to class.

"Well at least I don't have two _dykes_ for parents."

Dani stopped dead in her tracks and immediately dropped her backpack to the ground before turning back to face Amy.

"What the hell did you just say?" She spat, clenching her fists at her side.

"I said at least my parents aren't a couple of dykes." Amy repeated.

Dani's jaw clenched so tightly that it immediately gave her a headache.

"You don't ever talk about them, got it?"

"And what's with you calling them by their first names?" Amy pushed. "I heard you call the blonde one JJ. Is that cause she's not your real mom? I mean, neither of them is, probably. I bet you're adopted. Some newborn reject who ended up with the dyke moms."

The only answer that Amy got in return was Dani's fist connecting with her face. A sickening crunch echoed through the halls, and Amy fell backwards, her hands covering her face as blood spewed from her nose. Some of the other students had started cheering, while others were disgusted by the amount of blood coming from Amy's now obviously broken nose.

"What the _hell_ is going on here?" Mister Lawrence boomed, pushing through the group of students.

When the teacher's eyes landed on Amy, who was still on the floor sobbing, they widened exponentially. When he looked up and saw Dani standing there with anger in her eyes and her hands balled into fists, his disbelief continued.

"Miss Moretti? You did this?"

"Yeah, but she- "Dani started.

"I don't want to hear it, Miss Moretti." Mister Lawrence interrupted, holding up his hand to silence her. "Go to the principal's office and tell them what you've done."

* * *

Dani had never seen such an intense mixture of worry and anger as the one that was etched on Emily's face when she came barging into Principal Fitzgerald's office, still with her gun on her hip. Emily's eyes darted around the room, and when they landed on Dani, it took only a few seconds for her to register that fact that Dani wasn't hurt and convert all of her worry into anger.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady." Emily breathed, her voice low, controlled, and harsh.

Dani sat up straighter in her chair and looked straight ahead, refusing to look at the older brunette. Principal Fitzgerald cleared his throat, earning Emily's attention. Emily sat down in the seat next to Dani, shooting her one more look before focusing her attention back on the principal.

"Miss Moretti is refusing to tell anyone why she decided to attack Miss Mitchell."

Emily took a deep breath and returned her gaze to Dani, who was now looking at her hands, completely silent. There was something brewing behind her eyes that Emily had never seen before, an emotion that she couldn't place.

"Well?" Emily questioned. "Why did you do it?"

"I didn't _attack_ Amy." Dani argued.

"You broke her nose, Miss Moretti." Principal Fitzgerald countered.

Emily's eyes widened and her jaw went slack.

"You _what?_"

"She needs a nose job anyway." Dani muttered.

"Watch it, Daniella." Emily warned.

"Or what?" Dani challenged, pinning Emily with a glare. "Hm? What're you going to do?"

As Emily processed her shock at Dani's sudden, intense hostility and searched for what to say, Principal Fitzgerald cut in.

"Miss Moretti, this is your last chance to explain what happened with Miss Mitchell."

When Dani said nothing, he let out a frustrated sigh and leaned back in his chair.

"I have no choice but to suspend you." He conceded. "One week."

* * *

As soon as Emily and Dani entered the foyer, JJ appeared. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she had a look of disappointment written all over her face that made Dani's chest tighten and caused a lump to form in her throat.

"Living room." Emily ordered. "Now."

With a sigh, Dani did as she was told and went to sit in the living room. She threw herself onto the couch unceremoniously and watched as Emily stood on the other side of the coffee table, attempting to compose herself.

"Come on, Agent." Dani provoked. "This isn't your first interrogation. Get on with it."

Confusion plowed into Emily's anger, and she shook her head in disbelief.

The past few weeks, while they hadn't been perfect by any means, had been good. Dani had started to open up. She and Emily had begun discussing the books that they were reading. She and JJ would cook dinner together a couple nights a week, and they had even begun a standing Saturday movie night. Both Emily and JJ had thought that Dani was beginning to accept them as her parents, but the day's events were now making them doubt that.

"What happened with Amy Mitchell?" Emily questioned.

"I punched her in the face." Dani stated plainly.

"Why?"

"Because she deserved it."

"How?"

"Is this really how this whole thing is going to go? Because I've got homework to do."

When JJ carefully sat down next to Dani, Dani blatantly turned her head the other way and began blinking rapidly to get rid of the tears that had started to form.

"What's going on, Sweetheart?" JJ asked, her voice soft.

Emily and JJ had both begun using the occasional term of endearment to address Dani over the past few weeks, and every time they did, a little piece of Dani healed.

"Nothing is going on." She croaked.

"If you won't talk to us, then you can just go to your room." Emily sighed.

"Emily." JJ interjected, flashing her girlfriend a shocked expression.

"No." Emily snapped. "We can't help you if you won't let us, Dani. The ball is in your court now."

Slowly, Dani stood from the couch and nodded in understanding. When she finally looked at Emily, guilt immediately washed over the older brunette. All of the anger and rebellion had faded from Dani's eyes, and all that remained was pure, unadulterated exhaustion. Dani had absolutely no fight left in her, and Emily knew that it was her fault.

All Dani wanted was for JJ and Emily to fight for her, and Emily had just blown it.

"Goodnight, Agents."

Without another word, Dani went to bed at 4:30 in the evening, leaving Emily and JJ in the living room, heartbroken and confused.

**I genuinely am not sure how I feel about this chapter. I hope you all liked it.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi everyone! Thank you so, so, so much for all of the kind words on the last chapter. I am truly astounded at how much you all are enjoying this story.**

**Here's chapter 7. I hope you like it.**

**Peace and love**

**-C**

The next day, when a CD in a clear, plastic case was dropped onto the surface of her desk, Emily's head snapped up from her paperwork to find Garcia staring down at her, smiling proudly.

"What's this?" Emily inquired, tapping the CD with the end of her pen.

"The answers that Dani won't give you." Penelope smirked.

Emily cocked a quizzical brow at her best friend and leaned back in her chair.

"Did you hack into the school's security cameras?"

"I sure did. And let me tell you, the way high school students make out in the hallway these days is absolutely shameful. I was fast-forwarding so much that I almost missed Dani's fight."

Chuckling lightly, Emily shook her head.

"Well, let's see what happened."

Penelope turned around to face JJ's office window and waved her arms dramatically to get the blonde's attention. Realizing that she was being summoned, JJ abandoned what she was doing at her desk and made her way downstairs to the bullpen. At the same time that JJ was approaching, Derek, Spencer, and Rossi were getting off the elevator.

"Doctor Spencer Reid, resident lip-reader extraordinaire!" Penelope exclaimed. "We need your assistance."

"What goin' on over here?" Morgan asked as everyone gathered around Emily's computer.

"Pen found the footage of Dani's fight at school." Emily announced, sliding the CD into the side of her computer.

The black and white video popped up on the screen, showing the multitude of students gathered around one student on the floor, being taunted by another.

"Okay, but neither of those girls are Dani." JJ observed.

"Just wait." Penelope shushed.

"Okay, there she is." Emily stated, pressing her finger against the screen to where Dani had shown up in the corner.

When Dani lurched into the middle of the circle and assisted the student being bullied, Emily couldn't help the proud smile that tugged at her lips. When JJ squeezed her shoulder, she knew that the blonde felt the same way she did. As Dani started to walk away from Amy Mitchell, Penelope paused the video.

"This is the part that I can't figure out." She clarified. "Dani was walking away, but then the other girl says something that really- and I mean _really-_ pisses her off. I can't read her lips, though."

Reid reached forward and pressed play as he focused his eyes on Amy. As she spoke, his eyes narrowed, and then widened in shock.

"What did she say, Spence?" JJ questioned.

"Hold on." Spencer responded, holding up his index finger. "Wait, Garcia play that again."

Penelope hit the rewind button on the keyboard of the computer just as Dani was beginning to bring her fist back to punch Amy.

"Right there! Hit play."

Garcia hit play, and they watched as the video played through again. When Dani's fist connected with Amy's nose, Penelope and Reid both flinched, while Emily and JJ shared a grimace and Morgan erupted into a loud whooping sound.

"Bambina has a _mean_ right hook!" Morgan exclaimed. "You should get that girl in the ring, Prentiss."

"If you call Dani 'bambina' to her face, I guarantee you'll be the next one with a broken nose." JJ muttered.

"What?" Derek questioned. "It's Italian, isn't it?"

Emily waved Derek off and looked to Reid.

"What did Amy say that made Dani so mad?"

"I'm not sure I should say." Reid mumbled; his brow furrowed in contemplation. "Dani was right though. She deserved it."

"Spence." JJ interjected. "What did she say?"

"She uh… she called you and Emily 'dykes'."

"Yup. She deserved it." Penelope nodded.

Emily spun around in her chair to look to JJ as she rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"Why do I feel like a colossal asshole right now?" She grumbled.

"Because we just grounded our daughter for defending our honor."

Everybody decided not to point out the fact that JJ had just called Dani her daughter.

Emily released a long, frustrated sigh and ran a hand through her hair.

"Why wouldn't she tell us what happened?"

"Because then she'd be admitting that she loves you guys." Derek smiled. "And she's not ready for that yet."

Realization settled deep in Emily's chest, and she focused her gaze back to JJ, who gave her a soft, emotional smile.

"We need to fix this."

* * *

As Emily pulled her Range Rover into the driveway at the end of the day, her eyes landed on a tall figure walking away from the front door of their home.

"Jen, do you recognize him?" Emily questioned as she turned the car off.

JJ peered out the driver's side window at the retreating figure and shook her head. With a start, Emily jumped out of the car and approached the man with JJ hot on her heels.

"Excuse me." She called, pulling out her badge and flashing it. "Is there a reason you're at our house?"

As Emily got closer and saw that he was just a teenager, she relaxed a bit.

"You must be Dani's moms." He smiled. "I'm Nate, I was just dropping off Dani's French homework."

Nate offered his hand for both women to shake, which they did without taking their eyes off of his. Emily took in his charming smile, muscular build, and thick, flowing hair.

"Dani hasn't mentioned you before." Emily stated. "What's your last name?"

Nate chuckled and nodded in confirmation.

"My full name is Nathan Whittaker, ma'am. And it doesn't surprise me that Dani hasn't mentioned me. She doesn't really give me the time of day. She didn't even answer the door when I knocked."

"Then why hand-deliver her homework?" JJ inquired, cocking her head to the side.

The small smirk that Nate was sporting turned into a brilliant smile and he ran a hand through his hair.

"Because I think what she did… helping Kate- the girl that Amy was bullying- and then defending you two… I think it was really wonderful, and she shouldn't have gotten suspended for it. I don't want her grades to suffer when she did the right thing."

"How noble of you." Emily grumbled, earning a sharp yet discreet elbow to the ribs from JJ.

"It's nothing, ma'am." Nate insisted. "I should be going, though. My father isn't too keen on me being late for dinner."

"Have a good night, Nate." JJ smiled as she pulled Emily toward the house. "Thank you for dropping off Dani's homework."

Nate returned JJ's smile and gave her a small wave before jogging to the motorcycle that was parked on the side of the road and swinging his leg over it. When the motorcycle roared to life, Emily scoffed.

"Oh, _come on_."

"Emily, just leave it be." JJ laughed as she picked up the pile of papers that Nate had tucked under the flowerpot near the door. "He seems nice."

"I don't care." Emily snipped. "He has a motorcycle and he doesn't cut his hair."

JJ simply rolled her eyes and opened the front door, pushing Emily through it lightly.

"He just dropped of her homework. Like he said, Dani doesn't even give him the time of day."

"Dani!" Emily called. "We're home. Can you come down here please?"

The loud thud and a pained groan that came as a response sent panic through both JJ and Emily, who immediately bounded up the stairs towards the noise. Emily hardly even turned the knob of Dani's bedroom door as she burst in, nearly breaking the door down instead of actually opening it.

When JJ's eyes landed on Dani's open bedroom window and the teen laying on the floor, staring up at the two of them with wide eyes that screamed 'caught red-handed', she sighed loudly. Wordlessly, Emily moved across the room and shut the window a little harder than she needed to. Dani scrambled to her feet and moved her gaze between JJ and Emily, waiting for one of them to explode.

"Where were you?" Emily interrogated, finally breaking the silence. "And if you don't tell the truth, Daniella- "

"I just went to walk Sam home from school. I promise." Dani explained frantically. "I thought I would be back on time, but I saw your car in the driveway, so I snuck around back and got onto the roof from the heating unit."

"Dani…" JJ sighed, sitting down on the edge of Dani's bed heavily. "We would have let you walk Sam home from school if you had asked."

"But I'm grounded."

With a soft smile, JJ patted the mattress next to her, signaling for Dani to sit down. Dani did as she was told hesitantly, and Emily knelt down in front of her.

"We know what happened with Amy." Emily told her softly. "We know that it started with you helping another student, and we know what she said about us."

Dani's gaze fell to her hands as she began picking at her nails nervously. JJ gently reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind Dani's ear. Dani's eyes fluttered shut as tears formed in her eyes at JJ's action.

"Why didn't you just tell us what happened, love?" JJ asked.

Dani answered with a single-shouldered shrug and sniffled loudly.

"I didn't think you'd care."

"Daniella Lucia." Emily said softly. "Look at me."

Cautiously, Dani lifted her tear-filled gaze to meet Emily's.

"We cannot be mad at you for defending us, or for helping that other student. Do we think that maybe punching Amy in the face wasn't the best choice? Definitely. However, the fact that you stepped in and helped Kate is something that a lot of people wouldn't have done."

"We are proud of you for stepping up." JJ added.

"I didn't punch Amy because she was bullying Kate." Dani admitted, her voice hardly above a whisper. "I wasn't going to let her talk about you two like that."

Without thinking, JJ leaned forward and pressed a lingering kiss to the side of Dani's head. Immediately, the flood gates opened, and Dani began sobbing.

"Oh, honey." Emily breathed, leaning forward and pulling Dani into her arms.

It took a few seconds for Dani to allow herself to hug Emily back, but when she did, she wrapped her arms around the older brunette as tightly as she could and buried her face in the crook of Emily's neck. As smoothly as she could manage without breaking the embrace, Emily sat down on the bed and began rocking back and forth ever-so-slightly. Both JJ and Emily knew that Dani wasn't just crying because of what had happened with Amy. They knew that she was letting out all of the resentment, pain, and anger that she had felt over the past fifteen years.

While Emily held Dani tightly, JJ ran her hands through the teen's long, thick hair soothingly. They stayed like that for nearly an hour, neither of them saying a word.

* * *

"What if they don't like me?" Dani asked from where she sat in the back seat of Emily's SUV, her voice dripping with nervousness.

Emily glanced back at Dani in the rearview mirror of the car and shook her head.

"They already love you." She insisted.

"Rossi even has a surprise for you." JJ added.

"A surprise?" Dani repeated. "What is it?"

"He wouldn't tell us." JJ chuckled. "That's why it's a surprise."

"It's not funny, JJ." Dani whined.

"It'll be just fine, Dani." Emily smiled. "You already know Penelope, and my guess is that she won't leave your side the entire night."

Dani didn't say anything in response, and instead gazed out the window at the mansions that lined the street. When Emily pulled the car into a spot in front of the largest mansion on the block, Dani released a long, slow whistle.

"Is Rossi related to the Pope or something?"

"Or something." JJ chuckled.

Emily and JJ both climbed out of the SUV and started up the walkway to the front door of Rossi's home. After a few steps, Emily looked back and found Dani still sitting in the car with the door open, staring at the ground.

"You go inside." She told JJ. "Let me talk to her."

JJ squeezed Emily's forearm comfortingly and nodded before walking the rest of the way to the mansion. Emily jogged back to the car and went around to the other side, climbing into the back seat with Dani.

"What's going on in that brilliant brain of yours?"

Dani opened her mouth to speak but closed it half a second later.

"Hey, don't do that." Emily insisted. "No more shutting me out."

Dani heaved a sigh and shook her head.

"This isn't my world, Emily." She whispered. "I don't belong at dinner parties in mansions, or private schools that cost thousands of dollars a year. I'll always just be the orphan with ripped jeans and shoes that are two sizes too small."

Emily swallowed the lump that formed in her throat before reaching out and using her thumb and index finger to lift Dani's chin up, so their eyes met.

"You are not an orphan anymore."

The conviction and sincerity in her voice was even a surprise to her as she spoke. Dani eyed her carefully, unsure of what to say, so Emily continued.

"You have me and Jen, and that's never going to change. You're stuck with us, no matter what our home inspection tomorrow determines. No matter how many emancipation papers you make me sign. You. Are. My. Kid. And I refuse to spend another day without you in my life. I gave up fifteen years. I won't give up anything more. Do you understand me?"

A single tear had rolled down Dani's cheek, and Emily used her thumb to brush it away. Without warning, Dani lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Emily's shoulders in a tight hug. Emily laughed brightly and hugged Dani back as she released the tension that she wasn't aware she was holding.

"Thank you." Dani whispered.

"Always." Emily stated simply, yet sincerely. "Now let's go inside, Penelope is probably ten seconds from bursting out into the front lawn."

* * *

As soon as Emily opened the front door to the mansion, the sounds of classical music and laughter reached Dani's ears. In a second, Penelope came barreling into the foyer with a joyful grin.

"There she is!" Penelope exclaimed, scuffling across the foyer and throwing her arm around Dani's shoulder. "Long time no see, Sugar!"

"Hi, Penelope." Dani laughed.

Penelope guided Dani into the kitchen, where every member of the team was standing around the island with glasses of wine in front of them. Dani caught JJ's concerned eyes and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Dani, this hunk of chocolate deliciousness is Derek Morgan." Penelope introduced as she pulled Dani into Derek's direction.

Derek flashed Dani a warm smile, and Dani offered her hand for him to shake.

"Nah, Princess." He chuckled. "None of that here."

Much to Dani's surprise, Derek wrapped his strong arms around her in a hug, which she hesitantly returned.

"Oh, so she's Princess now, huh?" Emily questioned from where she stood next to JJ, cocking a challenging eyebrow.

"I can have two Princesses, can't I?"

"The man has a point, Em." JJ laughed as she took a sip of her wine.

"Hey!" Rossi exclaimed, snapping the tongs he was holding in the air. "Don't drink the wine yet!"

JJ quickly put her glass back down on the counter and gave Rossi an apologetic glance. Emily let out a bright laugh and pulled her girlfriend closer by the waist. Dani smiled at the subtle show of love. Hotch stepped forward, and much to _everyone's_ surprise, threw his arm over Dani's shoulders.

"Hi, Agent Hotchner." Dani greeted nervously.

"Call me Hotch." He insisted. "Or Aaron. Whichever you prefer."

"Hotch." Dani nodded.

"You've met Spencer, yeah?" Hotch inquired.

"Briefly." Dani confirmed.

This time, when she offered her hand, it was taken. Spencer shook her hand lightly and gave her an awkward smile.

"It's nice to officially meet you." He told her.

"Likewise."

"Alright, alright, my turn!" Rossi bellowed from where he stood in the kitchen. "Dani, when is the last time you had authentic spaghetti carbonara?"

Dani scoffed and shook her head.

"I was still in Roma, that's all I know."

"Well, then get over here and help me finish making it!"

Everyone watched as pure joy took over Dani's features. Without any sort of hesitation, she pushed up the sleeves of her black, cable-knit sweater and moved into the kitchen. She quickly washed her hands and pulled the towel off of Rossi's shoulder to dry them, draping it over her own shoulder afterward.

"What do you need me to do?" She asked.

"Grab the pasta and the pancetta."

Dani spun around effortlessly and removed the boiling pasta from the stove before pouring it into the strainer in the sink. Steam puffed up from the strainer, and Dani looked up to avoid feeling the heat of it on her face. When she looked up, her eyes landed on Emily and JJ, who were both watching her proudly. She smiled at them, earning an encouraging wink from Emily.

It took another five minutes for dinner to be finished, and Rossi finally gave JJ permission to drink the wine. They all sat down at Rossi's ridiculously large dining room table and began eating. Dani took one bite, and happy tears immediately began prickling at the back of her eyes. She may not have had the most positive memories of her life in Rome, but she did remember the city and the food, and it held a special place in her heart.

"Well?" Rossi asked after a couple minutes. "How is it?"

Dani gave Rossi a tearful, sincere smile from across the table and bobbed her head in a nod.

"Absolutely incredible, Rossi. I cannot thank you enough. I feel like I'm back in Roma."

Hotch reached for his wine and lifted his glass in the air, earning everyone's attention.

"To Dani." He toasted. "The newest- and brightest- addition to our little family."

"Familia." Rossi added, looking directly at Dani.

Dani raised her glass of water into the air and choked down the tears that were dangerously close to spilling over.

"Saluté"

* * *

When the chime of the doorbell rang through the house, Dani came barreling down the stairs, still pulling her hair into a ponytail as she did so and sprinted to the door. Emily and JJ followed closely behind her. With her hand on the doorknob, Dani took a deep, calming breath before opening the door. Mona was standing on the porch with her clipboard at the ready and a smile on her face.

"Let's get started, shall we?"

Emily, JJ, and Dani nervously followed Mona around the house as she inspected everything closely. Mona would occasionally check something off on her clipboard, or ask a question, which Dani often beat both Emily and JJ to answering.

"Dani, I need to hear from Emily and JJ, too." Mona smiled.

Dani nodded dutifully and shoved her hands into her pockets as she continued to follow her case worker through the house. Once Mona had checked every room in the house and had looked in every cupboard and compartment in the kitchen, she directed them to the living room. Once they were all seated, Mona let out a slow breath.

"We need to talk about Dani's suspension from school."

Dani swallowed audibly and looked down at the floor as fear of what Mona was going to say settled deep in her chest.

"We're handling it." Emily assured her. "We talked about it, and Dani has accepted her grounding. She's set to return to school on Monday."

"And you've kept up with your schoolwork?" Mona questioned, pinning Dani with an expectant gaze.

"It's all ready to be turned in on Monday, and my grades are almost perfect." Dani nodded.

"She's doing wonderfully." JJ added. "We're very proud of her."

"What about friends?" Mona inquired. "You know how I feel about Samantha being your only friend."

"I haven't met anyone at school yet." Dani told her, swallowing her irritation at the question.

"That's not true." JJ interjected. "Nate, the boy who dropped off your homework. Isn't he your friend?"

The corner of Dani's lips twitched up into a small smile and she shook her head.

"He's just some boy in my French class. We don't talk much."

"Is Dani's placement really contingent on her making friends?" Emily questioned, her voice a bit harsher than she had intended it to be.

"I need to make sure that Dani's fight isn't a result of poor adjustment." Mona defended, narrowing her eyes at Emily.

"Hey." Dani snipped. "I'm adjusting just fine. Don't look at her like that."

When Emily reached out and placed a comforting hand on Dani's shoulder, Mona made a noncommittal noise and wrote something down on her clipboard. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she stood from her chair and clasped her hands behind her back.

"I think it's safe to say that this placement will be approved and will become permanent." Mona announced.

"Seriously?" Dani questioned, shooting up from her chair. "Like, I get to stay? No more inspections or paperwork or safety checks?"

"Exactly like that." Mona affirmed. "If that's what you want, of course."

Emily and JJ both held their breath as they waited for Dani's answer. A cheerful, joyous laugh erupted from Dani's lips and she unexpectedly hugged Mona, their shoulders relaxed in instant relief.

"Thank you, Mona." Dani rushed as she walked the woman out of the house. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"You've made a lot of progress over the past few weeks, Dani." Mona said kindly as she stood in the open doorway. "Keep moving forward, yeah?"

With a brilliant smile, Dani glanced back at Emily and JJ, who were watching her with tear-filled eyes, before turning back to face Mona.

"Trust me, I don't plan on screwing this one up."

**Please let me know what you think! Thank you so much for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi everyone! Here's chapter 8.**

**A couple of you have pointed out that Dani is straying a bit from her original attitude towards Emily a bit too quickly. Rest assured, things won't be all sunshine and roses from here on out… it wouldn't be much of a story if it was. Or at least, it wouldn't be the kind of story that I'm trying to write.**

**Again, thank you so much for all of the kind words.**

**As always, Peace and Love**

**-C**

"I can't do this."

"You're not even trying."

Sam pinned Dani with a cold, frustrated glare and dropped her pencil down on the dining room table in a defiant act against the plethora of math problems that she was being "forced" to do. Dani, who had her own homework sitting in front of her, folded her arms over her textbook and pinned the younger girl with an equally as effective gaze. Emily and JJ couldn't help but laugh to themselves over the way Dani and Sam acted around each other. Dani had without a doubt taken on a caregiver role for Sam, but they bickered like siblings constantly.

"I tried." Sam argued. "I can't do it."

"Okay." Dani shrugged. "You're probably right."

Sam's jaw slackened as she gaped at Dani in disbelief.

"What?" She questioned. "You don't think I can do it?"

Again, Dani shrugged. This time, she picked up her own pencil and went back to her French homework.

"If you think you can't do it, then you're right; you'll never get it if you keep telling yourself you won't."

"So, you're not gonna help me anymore?"

"Not if you keep whining about it."

"But that's not fair!" Sam exclaimed, surprising everyone in the room.

Emily and JJ looked up from where they stood in the kitchen, stalling their dinner preparations as they waited for the rest of Sam's outburst to begin. Dani's eyes immediately shot up from her textbook, and she eyed Sam carefully. Sam's face had gone red, and her hands were clenched into fists.

"I'm not like you, Dani! I can't just look at something and figure it out! I need help!"

Completely shocked at Sam's outburst, Dani's mouth opened and closed several times as she searched for the right thing to say. After watching Dani struggle for a few moments, JJ jumped in, making her way to the table and sitting down directly across from Sam.

"Hey." She said softly, reaching out and picking up the pencil that Sam had dropped onto the table. "We all know you're trying."

"You do?" Sam nearly whimpered, her bottom lip quivering as she held back a frustrated sob.

"We do." JJ affirmed. "But we also know that you're not giving yourself enough credit. You can do this. Give it one more try."

With a warm smile, JJ held the pencil out to Sam, who reluctantly took it from her.

"Now, take a deep breath and try again." JJ instructed.

Sam did as she was told, closing her eyes and drawing in a deep breath before poising the tip of her pencil over the unfinished math problem. She looked at it carefully, squinting so hard that her forehead creased dramatically. Nearly a minute passed before a smile slowly spread across her lips and she put pencil to paper, scribbling down her answer and sliding it across the table for JJ to check. JJ quickly checked her work, very aware of the two pairs of eyes across the table watching her closely.

"You got it!" JJ exclaimed, clapping her hands.

"Good job, kid." Emily called from the kitchen.

"Dani, I got it!" Sam yelled, sliding the paper over so Dani could see.

Dani smiled brightly and nodded.

"You sure did." She confirmed. "Now try the next one."

When Sam went straight to work on the next problem, Dani lifted her eyes to JJ and gave her a small, grateful smile before mouthing the words "thank you". As JJ pushed herself up from the table, she shot Dani a quick wink and pointed to the pile of homework sitting in front of Dani. Getting the hint, Dani rolled her eyes dramatically before redirecting her attention to her own work.

Two hours after they finished dinner, a knock at the front door burst the happy little bubble that they were all in. With a heavy sigh, Sam packed up her things and threw her backpack over her shoulder. Emily had answered the door and ushered Sam's case worker, Eric, in. He was a short, prematurely balding man with what seemed to be a permanent scow etched on his face.

"Ready to go, Samantha?" Eric asked as he cracked his knuckles.

Dani grimaced at the sound and immediately started rubbing her scarred knuckles. JJ and Emily had noticed that any attention to Dani's hands, or attention to anyone else's for that matter, instantly brought Dani's attention to her scars, and her eyes would dim as she either rubbed her knuckles or shoved her hands in her pockets.

"I guess." Sam muttered, dragging her feet to the door.

"Hey." Dani called. "Don't I get a hug?"

Sam smiled brightly and threw herself into Dani's arms. Dani hugged the younger girl tightly and dropped a kiss on the top of her head before letting her go.

"Behave this week, okay?" Dani insisted. "Maybe write me a letter."

"Una lettera." Sam nodded, proudly sporting the small amount of Italian that Dani had taught her.

"Perfetto." Dani smiled.

"Is Dani the only one who gets a hug?" JJ asked, opening her arms.

Sam ran into JJ's outstretched arms so hard that Dani instinctually reached out and steadied JJ by the shoulder. Laughing, JJ wrapped her arms around Sam in a bear hug. Once Sam let go of JJ, she didn't even think before throwing her arms around Emily's waist tightly. Surprised, Emily chuckled and returned the hug before ruffling Sam's hair.

"It's getting late, Samantha." Eric sighed, obviously bored with the interaction.

"Fine." Sam sighed, finally making it to the door.

"Eric, wait." Dani interrupted.

With a frustrated eye roll, Eric turned back around in the foyer to face Dani.

"I think Sam needs glasses, she's been squinting a lot. And her boots are getting way too small." Dani informed him.

"I'll keep that in mind." Eric nodded.

"No, you'll schedule her an appointment with an eye doctor, and you'll find her a pair of boots that fit." Dani demanded.

Eric narrowed his eyes at the teen, who returned the glare steadily and cocked an eyebrow.

"Do your job, Eric."

Very clearly pissed off, Eric responded with a noncommittal grunt before spinning around and directing Sam out of the house as she waved goodbye.

* * *

The sound of Nate dropping into the seat next to her first thing in the morning was something that Dani had grown accustomed to hearing. For supposedly being the best athlete in the entire school, he wasn't very light on his feet. Dani heard his footsteps the second he entered the room, and he always landed in his chair with a heavy thud.

"I figured out where you're from." Nate announced in a sing-song voice.

Dani didn't even try to hide the challenging smirk that tugged at her lips as she looked up from her book in the same way she did every morning to find Nate leaning over the aisle between their desks and staring at her.

"Well then, let's hear it."

"France."

"And what makes you think that?"

"Well… you already speak French, and it's the language you chose over the others that the school offers, so you must have a preference for French. Therefore, you were born in France."

"You're missing a rather big clue that should give it away." Dani told him.

"Am I right, though?"

"Not at all."

Nate heaved a sigh and leaned back in his chair, defeated.

"Then where? Spain? Italy? Russia? Germany? Poland- "

"Now you're just listing countries." Dani laughed. "I don't even speak German or Polish. Well… I can understand German. I don't speak it, though."

Nate shook his head in disbelief and chuckled to himself.

"You are fascinating." He breathed. "You know that?"

Dani swallowed harshly and willed away the blush that she knew was now burning on her cheeks as she looked back to her book.

"I'm hardly fascinating, Nathan."

"Right… because everyone speaks five languages and reads ten thousand words a minute." Nate scoffed. "Mark my words, Dani Moretti; I'm going to figure you out."

"Good luck with that."

Just as the conversation came to a natural end, class began, and Dani pretended not to notice Nate's steady, curious eyes on her.

* * *

"Come to my game tonight."

Dani shut her locker to find Nate leaning against the one next to hers, peering down at her the same way he had when he found her in the prop closet.

"And why would I do that?" She questioned, turning away from Nate and making her way out of the school.

After a beat, Nate started following her and easily caught up.

"Because I asked you?" He offered, having no other reason.

"It wasn't really a question, actually." Dani corrected. "More of an abrupt statement."

A breathy, nervous laugh tumbled from Nate's lips and he ran a hand through his hair; a nervous habit that Dani had quickly picked up on.

"Okay, fine." Nate conceded. "Will you come to my game tonight?"

"I don't know anything about basketball, Nathan." Dani sighed.

Nate took a couple long steps forward as they came to the front doors of the school and pushed one open, ushering Dani through before following after her.

"It's easy. Every time I score, you cheer. When the other guys score, you don't cheer."

Dani rolled her eyes at the sarcastic, teasing tone in Nate's voice as she came to a stop in the spot that she and Penelope had designated as their pick-up spot. Nate side-stepped so he was standing in front of Dani and ducked his head, putting them at eye level.

"Come on, Dani… Please?"

Dani heaved a contemplative sigh. Just as she was about to answer, the sound of a horn cut through the air. Dani looked up to find Penelope's cherry red convertible approaching.

"That's my ride." She announced.

Penelope pulled the car up the curb and rolled down the window as she leaned over the center counsel.

"Hey, pretty lady!" Penelope greeted before her eyes drifted to Nate. "Hello, blue eyed wonder."

"Hey, Pen." Dani responded as she slid into the passenger seat of the car.

Nate leaned down to the window and placed his hand on the roof of the car.

"You didn't answer my question."

Dani shot him a small smirk and rolled her eyes.

"Good luck tonight, Nathan."

* * *

With a frustrated and nearly hopeless groan, Emily dropped her head onto the table that was covered in crime scene photos, empty coffee cups, and take-out containers. JJ and Reid glanced over at her from where they stood in front of the evidence board, and JJ couldn't help the chuckle that all but forced itself past her lips.

"We've been at this for _hours_, and we've gotten nowhere." Emily whined, lifting her forehead a couple inches off of the table and dropping it back down with a thud.

"Please don't give yourself a concussion." JJ teased. "Last time you did, you were a pain in my ass."

"Love you too." Emily muttered; her words muffled by the table.

"Actually, studies show that people who sustain numerous head injuries- "

The shrill ringing of Emily's cell phone cut through the beginning of Reid's tangent and Emily quickly removed the phone from her pocket.

"Oh, thank God." She sighed, grateful for the interruption, as she answered the call. "You're on speaker, Garcia."

"_Oh great! Are you busy?"_

"Not until Derek and Rossi get back from the crime scene with something to go off of." JJ responded, earning yet another impatient groan from her girlfriend.

"Why the hell did Hotch want me here? I'm more useful in the field." Emily mumbled.

"Typically, Morgan tends to be more successful than you in profiling a home _after_ the scene has been cleaned up, while you have a particularly sharp eye for profiling the scene itself. So, it actually makes sense that Hotch would want you here, analyzing photos- "

"_My dear Doctor Reid, unless you want to get arrested, I'd suggest you stop talking."_ Penelope interjected.

Reid focused his attention on the distant yet irritated glare that Emily was sending his way and swallowed audibly before shutting up.

"To what do we owe the honor of hearing your lovely voice this evening, Penelope?" JJ asked, thoroughly amused by the situation.

"_I just wanted to ask you and Agent Grumpster about the gorgeous pair of blue eyes following Baby Prentiss around like a lost puppy."_

"Does his name happen to be Nate?" JJ inquired.

"_Yes Ma'am, that just so happens to be his name."_

"That kid needs a haircut." Emily grumbled. "He looks like a delinquent."

"_You've met Loverboy?"_ Penelope exclaimed.

"Don't call him that." Emily groaned, eliciting a laugh from both JJ and Penelope.

"Sort of." JJ clarified. "He just dropped Dani's French homework off at the house while she was suspended."

"_French class, huh?"_

The giggle that came from Penelope caused Emily's head to rocket off of the table.

"Garcia, take whatever joke you're about to say and swallow it, please."

"Emily isn't too fond of the idea of Nate, as you can tell, Penelope." JJ sighed as she perched herself on the edge of the table, right next to Emily.

"_Neither is Dani, apparently."_ Penelope added. _"He asked her to come to his basketball game tonight and she said no."_

"Good for her." Emily nodded. "She probably saw the motorcycle and realized that he's bad news."

"_I don't know. Dani strikes me as someone who would be drawn to a boy with a motorcycle."_

"Teenage girls actually do tend to gravitate toward dangerous situations. It's a result of social conditioning- "

"Spence." JJ interrupted, shaking her head and pointing to Emily discreetly. "Not helping."

"Where is Dani, by the way?" Emily questioned.

"_She's in JJ's office with several books and Chinese food."_ Penelope chuckled. _"I think the building could collapse and that girl still wouldn't stop reading."_

Emily and JJ chuckled lightly at the mental image of Dani reclining in JJ's desk chair with her feet up on the desk, a book in her hand, and a container of Chinese take-out in her lap. Just as Emily was about to speak, Derek strode into the room and pinned a new picture up on the evidence board.

"We've got a suspect." He announced. "Chase Owens. He works as a maintenance man at the gym that all of our victims went to."

"We'll talk later, Garcia." JJ stated.

"_Until then, my loves."_

When the call ended, Emily pushed herself up from the table and began tying her hair back.

"Ready to go talk to this guy?" She asked, looking to Derek, who gave her a nod in confirmation.

"Wait a minute." Reid interjected.

With a furrowed brow, he glanced between Emily and JJ.

"I have long hair…. Do I look like a delinquent?"

**Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! Thank you so much for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey everyone! I apologize for the slight wait on this chapter. I had a bit of writer's block, and then I discovered that I wanted to take this story in a bit of a different direction. So, I'm letting you all know now that this story will be the first in a two-part series. I have outlined a new arc that I think is really special, and I'm looking forward to writing it. The next few chapters will still be aimed at character and relationship development, but after that, I'll begin the arc.**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It was a bit hard to write, and I'm not sure how happy I am with it. Please let me know what you think.**

**As always,**

**Peace and Love**

**-C**

For the life of her, Dani could not remember the last time that she had gotten a full night's sleep. Even as a child, she would find herself wandering the halls of the orphanage in the middle of the night, only to be caught by a nun, scolded, and sent back to the room that she shared with twelve other children. The middle of the night and the early hours of the morning had become so familiar to Dani, that now she found herself cherishing in the silence that they provided. Especially on the nights that she spent with Penelope. Once Penelope retired to her own bedroom, Dani would wait patiently on the edge of the guest bed, her eyes often examining the bright pink walls that surrounded her. As soon as the house went completely quiet, and all that could be heard was the faint hum of the refrigerator, Dani would tip-toe back into the living room and flick on the lamp that was in the corner of the room.

With the worn copy of Slaughterhouse-Five that she had borrowed from Emily's bookshelf, Dani placed herself onto Penelope's oversized couch and pulled the throw blanket that was tossed haphazardly over the back of the couch into her lap. She read peacefully until the sky began to turn various shades of pink and orange, alerting the world of the nearing presence of the sun. The fact that it was now Saturday morning meant that Dani could sneak back into the guest room and attempt to get a couple hours of sleep before Penelope woke her momentarily to tell her that she was going into work.

With the release of a slow, deep breath, Dani pushed herself up from the couch, folded the throw blanket up and tossed it back over the couch, and made her way to the guest room. She laid in bed on her back, staring at the ceiling with her hands clasped together over her stomach. Slowly, her eyes drifted shut and she fell into her usual light, restless sleep.

* * *

The second Emily stepped into the interrogation room, Chase Owens's head snapped up from its previously forward hanging position. Emily tossed the file she was holding onto the metal table and sat down across from Owens, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Tell me about what you do for work, Mister Owens."

"Like you don't already know." Chase scoffed in response.

Emily cocked an eyebrow quizzically and leaned back in her chair.

"Well, I know you're nothing but a glorified janitor."

An angry fire flashed in Owens's eyes and he set his jaw as his hands clenched into fists on the table.

"That's not true." He rebutted.

"Oh, it isn't?" Emily laughed. "You mop up other people's sweat and fix clogged shower drains at an elite fitness center. You quite literally clean up the mess of people who make in an hour what you make in a day. So, tell me, Chase… If you're not a glorified janitor, then what are you?"

Emily's words had set Owens on edge, and he was now leaning forward onto the table with his hands clenched so tightly that his knuckles had gone white. Emily could sense the rapid bouncing of his knee just a few inches from hers. She watched as he cocked his head to the side roughly, resulting in a sharp crack. He breathed in slowly a few times before lifting his gaze to Emily.

"The women there love me." He smirked. "They're all over me constantly."

"Is that so?" Emily prompted, earning a sure nod from the man across from her.

Nodding along in understanding, Emily opened the file that she had brought in with her and laid out driver's license pictures of the three female victims.

"Were these women all over you?" She questioned.

Chase examined the photos carefully, and Emily could feel bile rise in her throat when a sickening smile spread across his lips.

"They sure were. All three of them worshipped me."

"Can you tell me their names?"

Chase scoffed and leaned back in his chair once again, putting on an exaggeratedly cocky persona. When his eyes drifted down to Emily's chest for a couple seconds and then back up to her eyes, Emily had to keep herself from reaching across the table and slapping him as hard as she could. There was a reason that she had been the one to interrogate him; All of his victims were brunettes with pale skin and dark eyes. All professional types. Each of them was within five years of Emily's age. As soon as Hotch had announced that Emily would be the one to interrogate Chase, and that she would be doing it alone, JJ's head had nearly exploded. After her insisting that she be in the room interrogating him with Emily for nearly twenty minutes, Hotch had agreed that JJ would be allowed to watch the interrogation from behind the glass.

Emily was sure that JJ's face had gone red with anger the second Chase showed any interest in her.

"I don't care enough to ask them their names, sweetheart."

Emily hummed a noncommittal noise in an effort to choke down the nausea that she suddenly felt from being under the man's steady gaze and pushed the first image forward.

"Claire Sampson. Married to a Marine; he's a lovely man. About six-foot-four, made of pure muscle…. She really jeopardized her marriage to the perfect man… for you? You're what, five-foot-eleven? Average build, unimpressive job, not particularly attractive- "

"She wanted me."

Wordlessly, Emily moved the second picture forward.

"Abigail Thomas. Also married. To a corporate attorney who makes nearly a million dollars a year. They had three beautiful children together. I can't see why she would pay any attention to you."

Not waiting for a response, she pushed the third and final picture across the table.

"Michelle Carter. Not married, but she owned her own business, went to Harvard business school… and exclusively dated women." She listed, pinning Owens with an expected gaze, waiting for an explanation.

Owens head had dropped forward again as he clenched his eyes shut and shook his head.

"Now, Chase." Emily started, leaning forward so her elbows were on the table. "It looks to me that neither of these women would have been interested in you. You _cleaned up after them._ Daily. I bet none of them so much as glanced in your direction."

Without any warning, Chase exploded. His head shot up, and he stood from the table with so much force that his chair slid several feet behind him. His entire body was shaking with anger, and a vein in his forehead looked like it was dangerously close to bursting. Emily heard the knob on the door behind her rattle, no doubt JJ making an attempt to fly into the room and defend her girlfriend. Emily had pushed her own chair back from the table as a means of putting as much space between her and Owens as possible.

"They were entitled whores who thought that the entire world was there to service them! I mopped their sweat off of the floor, cleaned the toilets in the locker rooms, and made sure that the ellipticals that they _lived_ on worked well enough for their impossible standards and they can't do so much as _thank me_?"

"So, you killed them as retribution for not paying enough attention to you?"

Owens chuckled bitterly and sneered at Emily.

"I killed them." He stated. "Because women need to learn how to be grateful when a man like me gives them any sort of attention."

Without so much as another glance toward Owens, Emily pushed herself up from her chair, gathered the pictures from the table, and left the room.

"Wait." Owens choked, swallowing harshly. "No! No, you tricked me! You bitch! I'll kill you!"

Emily couldn't help but flinch as his yelling slipped through the closing door. The second the door latched shut, she breathed out a sigh of relief, and JJ pulled her into a crushing hug.

"Are you okay?" JJ asked, her worried voice muffled by the collar of Emily's shirt.

"I'm fine, babe." Emily insisted, placing a kiss on the side of JJ's head. "I'm just ready to go home."

* * *

"Alright, gorgeous God daughter of mine." Penelope sighed as she signed off of the several computers in her lair. "The team should be back any minute. Shall we go wait for them in the bullpen?"

"God daughter?" Dani questioned, cocking an eyebrow.

"I have appointed myself as your Fairy Godmother." Penelope announced with a brilliant smile.

Dani chuckled and nodded in understanding.

"Fair enough."

"So, off to the bullpen?" Penelope prompted as she stood up from her chair and started toward the door.

"Yeah, you head out there. Just let me grab my books and I'll catch up." Dani confirmed as she began cleaning up the several books and papers that she had scattered around the extra desk in the room.

"Gotcha."

Penelope practically skipped from her lair towards the bullpen, and Dani smiled to herself. Penelope's ease and lightness were something that Dani was sure she would never get tired of. As Dani cleared the desk, her hand grazed a file that had been teetering on the edge of the surface, and the slight nudge from the side of Dani's hand sent it tumbling to the floor. With an exasperated sigh, Dani knelt down and began picking up the papers that had fallen out of the file. When her hand landed on a picture that she recognized all too well, Dani froze. Staring back at her from the floor was herself, only twelve years younger. The sight of her long, dark, tangled hair and piercing glare at the camera- or rather the nun behind the camera- sent a wave of painful memories through her mind. She could've sworn that the sound of a ruler smacking against her hands and the ivory of a piano filtered into her ears. As she shook the memories from her head, Dani started to look more closely at the papers she had pushed to the floor. As her eyes examined the paperwork, anger settled deep in her chest and burned until her hands shook.

_Daniella Lucia Moretti_

_Birthday: June 18, 1990- Rome, Italy_

_Gift: Piano Prodigy_

_Known Languages: Italian, English, French, Spanish_

_IQ: 145_

_Behavioral Problems: Argumentative, combative, resistant to authority_

Dani flipped to another page, and bile rose in her throat and burned in her chest at the picture of her bleeding, scarred knuckles and nails bitten away to the point of near numbness in her fingertips paperclipped to a police report. Tears burned in her eyes, attempting to spill over, but she forced them away. Dani clutched the paperwork in her hands tightly as she took a few steadying breaths before sliding the papers back in the folder and placing the folder in her bag.

As she pushed herself up from her crouching position, she swallowed all of the emotion she felt and pushed it down as far as she could. Straightening her spine and lifting her chin, Dani grabbed her bag and her coat and strode out of Penelope's lair and into the bullpen. As she pushed the glass doors open, Emily and JJ turned away from the group conversation they were having and beamed at her. Dani forced a smile and approached the group.

"Hey, sweetheart." JJ smiled, pulling Dani into a hug.

Dani returned the hug lightly and did the same when Emily pulled her into a second embrace.

"We missed you." Emily said softly as she ran a hand through Dani's hair.

"How was California?" Dani inquired, forcing any sort of edge from her voice.

Emily hesitated in her answer as she eyed her daughter carefully. Dani was completely devoid of emotion, and she looked like she hadn't slept in days. Her eyes, rimmed by black circles, were completely blank, and her smile looked like it had been painted on.

"It was alright." Emily responded, attempting to keep her voice light. "This case wasn't the best."

"Sorry to hear that."

"You okay, Princess?" Derek questioned before taking a sip of his coffee. "You look like a wreck. Too much fun with Garcia while we were gone?"

Dani responded with a cold chuckle that Emily hated to think reminded her of her mother.

"Something like that." Dani affirmed. "I'm pretty tired."

"Let's go home, yeah?" JJ proposed, moving slightly to the side so she met Dani's eyes. "I think we all could use some rest."

Wordlessly, Dani spun on her heel and headed toward the elevator. JJ and Emily simultaneously shot Penelope a questioning glance, to which she responded to with a shrug.

"She was just fine a few minutes ago." She insisted.

After saying goodbye to the rest of the team and thanking them for the several "good luck" statements they were given, the two women followed Dani to the elevator. As soon as all three of them got in the elevator, the mood dampened to the point that Emily could feel it weighing on her shoulders. JJ reached out and grabbed Emily's hand, intertwining their fingers and squeezing comfortingly.

* * *

JJ had barely had the chance to close the front door and lock it before Dani stood in the living room and slammed a file down on the coffee table before dropping her bag to the floor. Emily and JJ's gaze drifted from Dani, who's cheeks were turning a dangerous shade of red as her chest began to rise and fall with every harsh breath she took, to the file now sitting on the coffee table.

"Please tell me that Penelope got all of this information on her own." Dani pleaded, her voice cracking. "Please tell me that you didn't read what's in that file."

Emily wasn't sure if the emotion in Dani's voice was more pain or anger, but either way, it broke her heart. Cautiously, JJ reached down and grabbed the file. Before opening it, she glanced at Dani, who's eyes were wide with fear and glued to the manila folder. As soon as JJ opened it, her eyes fluttered shut and she released a slow breath.

"Dani…" She began softly.

"Why was it in Penelope's office?" Dani questioned.

"Okay, you need to calm down, honey." Emily soothed. "You're shaking."

"_Don't_ call me that." Dani snapped, although it came out much more like a plea.

Emily swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat at the desperation in Dani's voice.

"How much of it did you read?"

"All of it." Emily admitted.

A quiet, fearful whimper escaped Dani's lungs and she moved her gaze to JJ.

"Jen? You didn't read it all, did you?"

Tears had already spilled from JJ's eyes, and all she could manage was a shameful nod.

"It's not yours to read!" Dani exclaimed. "It's mine! It's my story to tell when _I_'_m_ ready."

"Dani, please… just hear us out." Emily begged, taking a step forward.

Dani immediately took several steps away from Emily and shook her head.

"Those pictures, and that damn list that the orphanage put together… That's not me. I was _marketed _as the gifted, but damaged little girl who could have the rebelliousness beaten out of her! This whole time, I thought I was finally able to live without that label."

"You can, baby. We know that you aren't what that file says." Emily insisted.

"Dani, we love you- "JJ began to add, only to be cut off.

"No, you don't! How can you love me after seeing that? Huh?" Dani challenged. "After seeing how damaged I am."

"We don't think you're damaged."

Emily punctuated her statement by closing the gap between her and Dani, but as soon as she got close enough to wrap her arms around Dani's small frame, the teenager ducked out from under her arms and took off for the door.

"Dani!" JJ yelled desperately.

The front door flew open and Dani took off. JJ wasn't sure she had ever seen someone run so fast.

"Fuck." Emily hissed, immediately going for her car keys. "Jay- "

"I'll call Derek and Spence. Spence can stay here in case she comes back. Once he gets here, I'll go out on foot." JJ interrupted as she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

Emily nodded in confirmation and sprinted out the door.

* * *

Six hours later, Emily was still driving aimlessly through their residential area. Midnight had rolled around, and the temperature had dropped nearly thirty degrees. When rain began landing on her windshield and freezing the moment it hit the glass, Emily swore loudly and pounded her fist on the steering wheel so hard that a sharp ache travelled up her arm.

Derek must have heard her through the speaker on her phone, because his voice filtered into her car for the first time in a couple hours.

"_We'll find her, Emily."_ He assured her. _"JJ's in her car now, so we're covering more ground. Rossi and Hotch both have their porch lights on."_

"Derek, it's thirty degrees and raining, and Dani doesn't have her jacket. If she's out here for too long- "

"_Don't go there right now, Prentiss. You know it won't do any good."_

"Has Garcia gotten a hit on her cell phone signal?" Emily questioned. She had asked him the question at least ten times by now.

"_Dani took the battery out of her phone."_

Silence fell over the two of them for what felt like hours as they both continued to drive around the city. When the static of another line adding to the call came from her phone, Emily answered it immediately.

"Jay? Did you find her?"

"_No. I just stopped at New Hope, and she hasn't turned up there either." _JJ sighed.

"_She's not going to go somewhere we think she will." _Derek added.

"_Wait, Em… what about Nate? Do you think she went to him?"_

"I'll try anything at this point." Emily choked out. "Derek, can you have Pen dig up his contact information and get ahold of him?"

"_You got it, Princess."_

As soon as Derek's end of the call ended with a click, Emily let out a choked sob.

"_We'll find her, baby."_ JJ insisted softly. _"We'll find her and bring her home."_

"What if she doesn't want to come home after this?"

"_We'll figure this out. We always do."_

Before Emily could respond, Derek reentered the call, interrupting the signal for a couple seconds.

"_Pen called Nate. He hasn't heard from Dani or seen her, but he's out looking for her now too."_

Emily let out a frustrated growl and continued to scan the road in front of her.

"_Wait…" _Derek breathed.

"Did you find her?" Emily questioned, picking up her phone from the cupholder.

Emily and JJ both listened and held their breath as the sound of Derek jumping out of the car and into the rain, slamming his door behind him came through the phone.

"_Guys, I've got her!" _He announced, eliciting a thankful sob from both women on the phone. _"Dani, wake up. Come on, baby_ _girl_,_ open those beautiful eyes for me."_

"Derek, what's going on?" Emily asked sharply.

"_Fuck."_ Derek spat. _"She's too cold. Her pulse is too weak."_

"_No, nononono."_ JJ sobbed.

"Get her to the hospital." Emily demanded. "We'll meet you there."

* * *

It took twenty minutes for the hospital waiting room to fill with the BAU team. Emily and JJ were pacing either side of the room, while Morgan and Reid watched both of them carefully. Penelope had been crying silently the entire time, clutching onto Rossi's hand from dear life. Hotch was the only one who seemed even remotely composed, and even he had tears welling up in his eyes.

The elevator directly across from the waiting room dinged, and JJ's eyes drifted up towards the sound. Nate ran out of the elevator and went immediately to the reception counter. His grey hoodie was completely soaked from the rain, and his hair was plastered to his face and neck.

"Emily." JJ called softly.

Emily followed JJ's gaze, and when her eyes landed on Nate, who was frantically questioning the receptionist, her heart warmed. Penelope got up from her seat and went to the young man. She put her hand on his shoulder, grabbing his attention.

"Hey, blue eyes." She greeted sadly.

"Is Dani okay? Have the doctors been out yet? They won't tell me anything."

"She's still with the doctors." Penelope responded tearfully. "Come sit down."

Solemnly, Nate nodded and followed Penelope into the waiting room. JJ stepped into Nate's path, stopping him from taking a seat in the farthest corner of the room. She glanced up at his worried, yet steady eyes and managed as much of a smile as she could.

"Thank you." She said sincerely. "Dani's lucky to have a friend like you."

"She's a special girl." Nate smiled. "I think I'm the lucky one."

As soon as Nate sat down, a doctor came striding into the waiting room.

"Are you Daniella's family?" She asked.

Emily and JJ stepped forward immediately, and everyone else stood from their chairs nervously.

"We're her parents." Emily nodded.

"I'm Doctor Shaw." The doctor introduced. "Daniella suffered severe hypothermia. Her core temperature dropped to eighty degrees, and it took us a lot longer than I would have liked to get it up to a safe range. Even now, her temperature is too low for my liking."

"But she's going to be okay." Emily clarified.

"I'd like to keep her over night to make sure that she remains stable, but as far as I can tell, she'll be okay."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Emily pulled JJ into a tight embrace.

"When can we see her?" JJ questioned.

"You two can see her now. She's awake. But I want the rest of you to wait until tomorrow. Her head is going to be pretty foggy for the next couple days, and she'll be more tired than she's ever been. Hypothermia does a number on people."

Emily and JJ nodded in understanding and shot the team one last thankful glance before following Doctor Shaw back to Dani's room. Dani's eyes were closed as she laid under a heated blanket. Every few seconds, a chill would run through her, disturbing any sort of rest that she was managing. When she heard the door to her room open, she cranked her tired, heavy eyes open.

"Hey, you." JJ greeted as she pulled a chair up next to Dani's bed.

"JJ, I'm sorry- "Dani started, her words slurred with exhaustion as tears immediately began rolling down her cheeks.

"Nope. None of that right now, okay?" JJ interrupted as she wiped the tears from Dani's face. "You get better first, then we'll talk about it."

Dani's gaze tentatively drifted to Emily, who was standing at the foot of the bed, her eyes looking anywhere but the bed. The repeated beeping of the heart monitor assaulted Emily's senses, and she became hyper aware of the fact that it was beeping slower than it should have been. Doctor Shaw cleared her throat awkwardly as she checked over the screens of every monitor and made sure that Dani's IV bag was full.

"I'll be back later to check on you, Daniella." The doctor insisted, earning a tired nod from the teenager.

As soon as Doctor Shaw left the room and closed the door behind her, Emily exhaled shakily and shook her head as she looked at the floor.

"Em?" JJ called.

No answer.

"Emily."

Still nothing.

"Mom?"

Emily's head snapped up, revealing her red, tear-filled eyes and fearful expression.

"Sorry, is that not okay?" Dani rushed. "I mean, I don't think I'm ready to call you mom all the time, but… you are my mom, and I wanted to make sure you were okay, and- "

The beeping of Dani's heart monitor had begun to speed up, and Dani attempted to push herself up from her lying position, only to be softly directed back down onto the bed by JJ. The distress on her daughter's face immediately sent Emily into action and she moved to the side of the bed, assisting JJ in helping Dani back down onto the bed.

"I'm fine, I swear." Dani slurred with labored breath. "I'm fine…"

"Sleep." Emily instructed, running a hand over Dani's hair before kissing her forehead, forcing herself not to focus on how cold Dani was to the touch. "We'll be here when you wake up."

The beeping of the monitor had finally slowed once more, and every muscle in Dani's body relaxed as her eyes fluttered shut. JJ reached out and took Dani's hand into her own, holding onto it as though she was worried that Dani would take off again. Emily sat on the edge of the bed and continued to run her hand through Dani's long, thick hair. After a few minutes, one last shiver ran through Dani's body, and her breathing relaxed, letting Emily and JJ know that she was asleep. Emily smiled softly and reveled in the fact that Dani was safe and was going to be just fine.

"Sweet dreams, my beautiful girl."

**I hope you all liked it! Reviews are always appreciated! Thank you for reading**


	10. Chapter 10

**Here's chapter 10! I hope you all enjoy it.**

**Peace and Love**

**-C**

As soon as Dani opened her eyes, she snapped them shut again and let out a pained groan at the pounding in her head. She lifted her hand to rub her forehead, only to feel a heavy resistance against it. After coming to the conclusion that it was someone else's hand adding weight to her own, Dani reluctantly cranked her eyes open once more. She squinted against the harsh fluorescence of the overhead lights as her gaze landed on JJ, who was sound asleep in a chair, with her head rested on Dani's bed.

Realization all but slapped Dani in the face as she figured out that she in fact, was not in own bed, nor was she even at home. She allowed her eyes to gloss over the rest of the room. As soon as they landed on Emily slumped over in another chair across the room, asleep, it dawned on her exactly where she was. The beeping of her heart monitor finally registered in her mind, and the overwhelming ache in her entire body became paramount to her senses. Dani racked her brain, searching for any memory of what had happened after she stormed out of the house, only to come up empty. Her next reflex was to check over her body for any broken bones or obvious injuries. Despite the pain she was in, she found nothing of the sort.

Suddenly, the door to her room swung open. Emily And JJ both woke with a start, their hands immediately going to their hip, only to find themselves without their service weapons. JJ's other hand had instinctually tightened its grasp on Dani's, and as soon as she realized that it was just Doctor Shaw at the door, JJ relaxed. Fear overtook Dani entirely at the sudden intrusion and the understanding of where she was fully set in. She stared at the doctor before her with wide eyes and swallowed harshly as she attempted to calm her rapidly beating heart.

"Good morning, Daniella." The doctor greeted. "I'm Doctor Shaw… you don't remember me, do you?"

Slowly, Dani shook her head.

"Do you remember anything about last night?" Doctor Shaw inquired.

Again, Dani shook her head. Emily and JJ shared a quick glance, and JJ noticed the disappointment that flooded into Emily's features. They had both known that Dani's slip of calling Emily 'mom' was a result of her being hardly conscious, but Emily had hoped that it would stick.

"I remember yelling." Dani clarified. "A-and… and I remember running out. It started to rain, so I found a covered bus stop. I was so tired… I couldn't stay awake any longer."

Doctor Shaw hummed in response as she wrote something down on the chart she was holding.

"It's normal that your recollection would be a bit fuzzy." She affirmed. "You were unconscious for a long time."

Dani questioningly glanced between Emily and JJ, searching for some sort of clarification.

"Derek found you." Emily elaborated, choking back her own emotion. "By the time he did, you had already passed out.

"Your core temperature dropped to eighty degrees." The doctor added.

Dani's eyes widened dramatically, and her jaw slackened.

"That's… that's almost- "

"Comatose level hypothermia." Doctor Shaw interrupted, nodding. "You were lucky."

A heavy silence fell over the room as Dani dropped her gaze to her hand in JJ's. JJ had noticed, and gave her hand a light, reassuring squeeze. Dani could feel Emily's eyes on her, although she couldn't tell if it was an angry glare or not. If she was being honest with herself, she was afraid to look. She knew that Emily was upset and hurt, and she knew that she had caused it. That wasn't something Dani thought she could handle seeing.

Sensing the tension in the air, Doctor Shaw took a deep breath and cleared her throat.

"There are a couple things that I would like to talk to you about. "

Cautiously, Dani lifted her gaze to the Doctor, avoiding making eye contact with Emily as much as she could.

"How many hours of sleep a night do you think you get, Daniella?" Doctor Shaw inquired, clicking her pen and poising it over her clipboard.

Dani gave a single-shouldered shrug and shook her head.

"Maybe three or four. Sometimes none."

"And are you eating regularly?" Doctor Shaw continued, not looking up from her clipboard.

"I am now, yeah."

Doctor Shaw's eyes moved up and she peered at Dani over the edge of her clipboard with a quizzical expression.

"You weren't before?"

"When I was living in a group home, one of the girls was going through a growth spurt. I'd give her my dinner a few nights a week. I'd eat at school, of course. I was just fine, but I didn't want her going to bed hungry."

"Dani…" Emily sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Daniella, you're twenty pounds underweight. At your age, that can be hormonally detrimental. And to top it all off, you aren't even getting half the amount of sleep that you should be getting." Doctor Shaw's tone was firm and reprimanding. "Frankly, I'm surprised you didn't end up in the hospital sooner."

"Wow, Doc." Dani snipped. "How many awards have you won for your bedside manner? Because its fucking flawless."

"Hey." JJ interjected. "She's just doing her job."

Dani rolled her eyes and settled further into the bed before directing her attention back to Doctor Shaw, who was agitatedly scribbling something down. Harshly, she ripped the paper off of her clipboard and handed it to Emily.

"This is a prescription for a sleeping aid. Have her take them as needed."

Dani scoffed and opened her mouth to speak, but Emily beat her to it.

"Thank you, Doctor Shaw." Emily smiled. "When can we take Dani home?"

"I want her to stay until later today. I would say you'll be home no later than five this evening. I'll send a nurse in to check on her every couple of hours."

With a curt nod and tight smile, Doctor Shaw left the room, nearly plowing into Derek, who was making his way into the room with an obnoxiously large bouquet of flowers in his hand.

"Look who's awake!" He called, setting the flowers down on the small table by the door. "You gave us all quite the scare, Princess."

"Uh… thank you, Derek." Dani muttered guiltily. "For finding me."

Derek waved her off with a warm smile as he took a seat in the chair that Emily had previously been asleep in.

"It's what I do best, kid."

A weak chuckle tumbled from Dani's lips and she gave Derek a small nod. The sound of frantic bickering flowed down the hall and into the room, accompanied by quick, obviously high-heeled footsteps against the linoleum floors.

"Reid, I'm serious. Do not pressure her into playing that dumb game with you. My God Daughter needs _rest_ and lots of it!"

"God Daughter?" JJ questioned, looking to Dani quizzically.

"Penelope has appointed herself to the position of God Mother." Dani explained.

"_Fairy_ God Mother, actually." Penelope corrected as she strode into the room with Reid hot on her heels. "How're you feeling, Sweet Cheeks?"

"I'm okay." Dani lied, forcing a smile.

Penelope sighed and shook her head as she moved across the room and gave Emily a comforting hug.

"You're just like Mama Bear, here." She stated. "Never able to admit when something hurts."

"JJ's in for quite the ride, then." Derek chuckled.

JJ smiled and rolled her eyes playfully.

"Tell me about it." She laughed.

"Remember the time Emily had a concussion for three days before actually going to the hospital?" Reid prompted.

"Three days?" Dani squeaked.

"The only reason she went is because Hotch threatened to put her on desk duty if she didn't." Reid nodded.

"And then she ended up on desk duty, anyway." Derek added.

"Longest week of my life, and I don't even remember most of it." Emily chuckled.

"How'd it happen?" Dani inquired.

"An unsub decided to play baseball with her face." Derek responded.

Dani's eyes widened in shock as Emily rolled her eyes.

"He makes it sound worse than it actually was."

"Em, he literally hit you in the face with a two-by-four." JJ corrected. "Derek isn't exaggerating."

"Does stuff like that happen often?" Dani continued.

Every member of the team hesitated and shared a collective look before Emily released a slow breath and answered.

"It's part of the job."

"That's not an ans- "

"Hey, is anyone going to tell the poor kid sleeping in the waiting room that he can come in?" Rossi questioned as he sauntered into the room, also with a bouquet of flowers in his hand, cutting Dani off and derailing the conversation.

"Who?" Dani questioned.

"Blue Eyes." Penelope clarified.

Dani thought for a moment before realizing who Penelope was talking about. Her face immediately went red and she swallowed audibly.

"Nathan is here? How long has he been here?"

"All night by the looks of it." Rossi answered, peaking his head out of the doorway. "Hey, Nate!"

"Rossi! No!" Dani hissed.

Nate must have woken up, because Rossi was waving him into the room. Within a couple seconds, Nate was standing in the doorway. His hair was pulled back messily, and his sweatshirt and jeans were thoroughly wrinkled. The dark circles under his eyes made it clear that he hadn't slept well. Nervously, he looked around the room before his eyes landed on Dani and he gave her a soft smile.

"Hey." He greeted.

"Uh… hi."

"How're you feeling?"

"I'm fine."

"What is this?" Reid questioned, motioning between Dani and Nate. "What is happening right now?"

"Spence." JJ giggled, shaking her head.

"Oh!" He exclaimed. "You're the delinquent! I get it now."

"Reid!" Emily huffed as Penelope and JJ both erupted into laughter.

"I-I'm the what?" Nate inquired, looking around the room for an explanation.

"Let's give these two a couple minutes of privacy, yeah?" Rossi suggested.

Emily opened her mouth to protest but was quickly pulled out of the room by Derek. JJ stood from her chair and dropped a kiss on the crown of Dani's head.

"We'll be right outside the door."

Dani forced a small smile and nodded as everyone left the room. Emily had started to close the door, but left it cracked open at the last second. Hesitantly, Nate took a seat in the chair that JJ had just vacated. His hands were nervously wringing the beanie that he had been wearing the night before.

"So… why'd you take off?" Nate asked, his voice filled with confusion and concern.

"That's kind of a complicated answer to give."

"They thought you came to me, so I went out looking for you."

Dani lifted her gaze to Nate, who- for the first time since Dani had met him- looked unsure. His trademark smirk was gone, and his voice wasn't nearly as strong as it usually was. It was soft, scared, nervous. Dani wasn't sure how to respond, so she eyed him carefully for a few moments.

"Look, Dani…" He started. "I obviously don't know what's going on, and I obviously don't know you very well, but I'd like to at least be friends."

"We are friends." Dani said slowly.

Nate scoffed and shook his head.

"No, we sit next to each other in French and you ignore me." He corrected. "I mean I want to be actual friends. Friends who hang out and know things about each other."

Dani considered what Nate had said, nodding in understanding.

"I was born in Italy." She told him with a small smile. "Rome."

"I should've known!" Nate exclaimed, smiling brightly. "I actually lived in Livorno for six months when I was ten."

"You did?"

"Yeah, my father was working for the American Consulate in Italy. We've been all over. Or at least, he and my mom have. I stay in the States, so I don't fall behind in school."

"You're the son of a Diplomat." Dani snickered. "I never would have guessed."

"Maybe if you had given me a chance starting on the first day, you would've known." Nate quipped.

"Okay, but to be fair… you came on pretty strong."

"You read an entire novel in the span of a forty-five-minute class. I think I had the right to be a bit intrigued."

Dani made a non-committal noise and shook her head as she looked down at her hands in her lap.

"I should get going." Nate sighed. "I think Penelope is going crazy listening on the other side of the door."

"I am not!" Penelope shot back. "Oh, damn it."

Nate chuckled to himself and gave Dani a warm smile.

"I'm glad you're okay." He said sincerely. "Please, don't ever do something like this again."

Dani flashed him as much of a smile as she could muster and nodded.

"I'll do what I can."

* * *

The minute they had gotten home, Dani had collapsed onto the couch. Simply walking form the car to the front door had taken all of the energy she had and taking the stairs to her room wasn't going to happen. Emily had followed closely behind, covering her with the throw blanket form the other chair.

"You're going to make me talk about it, aren't you?" Dani mumbled; her voice muffled by the pillow pressed against her face.

With a quiet sigh, Emily perched herself on the coffee table and leaned forward, so her elbows rested on her knees.

"You really, really cannot run like that. I mean it, Dani. Never again."

"I know."

"JJ and I need to know that you're safe."

"I know."

"With that said…" Emily continued. "We understand why you were so upset. I crossed a line having Penelope find all of that information about you, and I should have been up front about it once you moved in."

Dani said nothing in response and looked down at the floor. Carefully, Emily reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair behind Dani's ear.

"We really do love you, Dani. No matter what you think you can't tell us. No matter what you've gone through. We love you with everything we have."

"Am I grounded again?" Dani asked, her voice breaking with emotion as she quickly changed the subject.

"JJ and I talked, and we don't think it would be productive to ground you after you ended up in the hospital. As long as we know that you understand that you can't run like that again."

"I understand." Dani confirmed.

"I think it's going to take a while for all of us to trust each other again." Emily sighed. "You need to trust that we love you, and that we just want to be your moms, and we need to know that you're going to let us."

Again, Dani said nothing and refused to look Emily in the eye.

Emily leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to Dani's forehead before standing up from the coffee table.

"Why don't you get some rest while JJ and I make dinner." She suggested.

Dani nodded in agreement and allowed her eyes to flutter shut as Emily walked away. Just as Emily was steps away from the kitchen, Dani's quiet, broken voice caused her to stop.

"Thank you, Emily."

Emily smiled to herself and took one last look at the couch, where Dani had curled into a tight ball, before clicking off the dim lighting of the living room.

"Get some rest, love."

**Thank you for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello! I'm sorry for the bit of delay on this chapter. I was having a hard time getting this one figured out. I hope you enjoy it. It gets a little bit graphic, so I just want to put a TW in here. I don't know if it really needs one, but I figured better safe than sorry. It's not explicit self-harm, or the mention of it, but I think one of the details in a scene could potentially be a bit triggering.**

**Other than that, I hope you all like this chapter.**

**Peace and Love**

**-C**

**One month later**

"Hey, Emily?"

Emily looked up from the pages of the book she was reading and found Dani, fresh out of the shower and in her pajamas- which were really just an oversized FBI t-shirt and flannel pants- standing in the doorway with a brush in her hand. She took a moment to take in her daughter's appearance, unable to believe that it was the same girl she had met nearly three months prior. Since being in the hospital, Dani had put on nearly fifteen pounds. She no longer looked exhausted and underfed, and thanks to working out with Morgan three times a week as a way to improve sleep, she looked strong. Her arms and legs were toned, and she stood with unwavering, confident posture. Emily gave Dani a warm smile and put her book down on her nightstand.

"What's up?" She inquired.

Shyly, Dani looked down at the brush she was holding, spinning it in her hands slowly.

"Um… I was wondering if you or JJ could maybe braid my hair?"

Emily could have sworn that her heart exploded in that very moment. Without hesitation, she sat up in bed and patted the mattress in front of her.

"Get over here." She said softly.

Dani shuffled across the floor and crawled onto the bed, sitting directly in front of Emily with her legs crossed. Emily started brushing Dani's long, freshly washed, tangled hair, reveling in the vibrant smell of her lavender shampoo.

"I had a nanny who used to brush my hair every night." Emily hummed as she continued to run the brush through Dani's hair.

"Elizabeth never did?" Dani questioned.

Emily chuckled lightly and shook her head.

"My mother isn't exactly the nurturing type."

"So, I've noticed." Dani quipped.

"In fact, I'd say that my nannies did most of the mothering for her."

"Did that bother you?"

Emily hesitated for a moment as she set the brush down in her lap and began threading her fingers through Dani's hair.

"It did when I was around your age." She admitted. "I did everything I could to get some sort of attention from my mother. Even if it was negative."

"That's when you got pregnant." Dani deduced.

A small smile tugged at the corner of Emily's lips and she released a slow breath.

"It is."

JJ had come out of the en suite bathroom after her own shower and had wordlessly crawled into bed with Emily and Dani, listening intently. She had playfully nudged Dani's knee with her foot, earning a small giggle from the teen as she swatted JJ's wiggling toes away.

"Can I ask you something?" Dani inquired, uncertainty filtering into her voice.

Emily had finished braiding Dani's hair, completing the task by dropping a kiss on the top of her head.

"Anything, love." Emily assured her.

Hesitantly, Dani turned around, so she faced Emily and JJ, who were waiting patiently for her question. Dani swallowed nervously and folded her hands in her lap. As she searched for the courage to ask her question, she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.

"Hey." Emily said softly, placing her hand on Dani's knee. "I'm serious. Anything."

"Who's my father?"

Dani hadn't looked up when she asked, and she continued to stare at her hands, twiddling her thumbs nervously as she waited for an answer. Emily gave Dani's knee a comforting squeeze before lifting her hand to Dani's chin and tilting it up, so they made eye contact. Dani's gaze hesitantly flickered to JJ, who gave her a reassuring smile.

"It is perfectly normal for you to wonder where you come from." Emily insisted. "Please don't feel guilty for asking about your father."

Dani nodded in understanding and forced a small smile. Emily dropped her hands into her own lap and took a deep breath. JJ moved over so she was closer to both of them, making it so that the three of them had their knees pressed against each other's.

"His name was Felipe. He went to the same private school that I did, and he was… the typical bad boy." Emily chuckled. "I definitely had a type back then."

"Did you tell him that you were pregnant?"

"I did." Emily nodded. "He was older than I was; eighteen. He was heading to art school in Spain in the fall, and I told him that he was under no obligation to stay."

"But he didn't want to stay to begin with." Dani filled in, a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"Your father was a good man, and a kind soul." Emily declared. "He just wasn't father material."

"Do you know where he is now?"

"Last I heard, he opened an art gallery in Paris."

"That's not nearly as cool as being an FBI Agent." Dani stated, a small, wavering smile tugging at her lips.

JJ laughed brightly and nodded her head.

"Damn right." She affirmed.

A long, loud yawn overtook Dani and her shoulders immediately started to slouch. Emily looked at the clock on her nightstand and sighed.

"It's getting late, and you have an exam tomorrow." She stated, cocking an eyebrow in Dani's direction.

Dani released an exasperated groan and fell backward onto the mattress.

"It's just a French exam." She insisted. "I could do it in my sleep."

"That's exactly what you'll be doing if you don't go to bed." Emily chuckled.

With a huff, Dani rolled off of the bed and started for the door. When she made it to the doorway, she turned around and offered JJ and Emily a grateful smile.

"Goodnight, guys." She said softly.

"Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Goodnight, love."

* * *

Throughout the entire French exam, Dani's cellphone vibrated loudly in her pocket. Every time it began to vibrate, she would reach down without looking and reject the call before shooting Mister Lawrence an apologetic glance. After the fourth time her phone started to ring, Dani let out a quiet, frustrated sigh and quickly finished her exam, not bothering to check it over before placing it on Mister Lawrence's desk. Dani could feel Nate's eyes on her as she weaved through the desks of her classmates and grabbed her backpack before rushing into the hall. Dani had expected to see Penelope's number pop up on the screen as her phone began to buzz yet again, but much to her surprise, it was Becky calling her. Her worry that something bad had happened had not subsided in the slightest, only now her concern was for Sam, rather than Emily or JJ. Quickly, she answered the phone.

"Becky? What's going on?"

Before Becky could answer, a loud, angry scream came through the phone so aggressively that Dani had to pull the phone away from her ear. After the scream, a frantic, out-of-breath Becky finally responded.

"_Dani… Samantha is out of control. Eric and I have no idea what to do- "_

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

Without waiting for a response, Dani ended the call and shoved her phone back in her pocket as she started towards the nearest exit. The sound of heavy footsteps quickly walking after her caught Dani's attention, but she continued to jog down the hall.

"Dani, hold on."

Realizing that it was Nate who was following her, she slowed down and allowed him to catch up. He quickly made it to her and stepped so he was in front of her, placing himself in her path to the door.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"There's something I have to take care of." She responded quickly before trying to step around him.

Nate easily blocked her path again and placed his hands lightly on her shoulders, holding her in place. The harsh, fiery glare that Dani pinned him with immediately let him know that any sort of physical contact was not welcome. He took his hands off of her shoulders and shoved them in the pockets of his khaki pants.

"Let me help." He insisted.

Dani let out an irritated huff and thought for a moment. Over the past month, Nate had proven that he genuinely cared about her, and that he wanted her to trust him. He had gone so far as to stop having lunch with his teammates every day and joined Dani in the corner of the lunchroom as often as he could. They talked about books and music, and Nate had even made the effort to learn a little bit of Italian. Most of what he had learned was swear words, but he used them to make Dani laugh, and it worked every time.

Deciding that arguing with Nate about letting him help was wasting time, Dani nodded reluctantly and pulled him out the door.

"There's a bus that'll take us where we need to go." She announced.

"Wait." Nate dug his heels into the ground, stopping them both. "We can take my bike."

Dani knew that if Emily and JJ found out that she had been on Nate's motorcycle, she would be grounded for the rest of her life. She already knew that she was in for a grounding after leaving school. Although it was a bad idea, she allowed Nate to lead her into the parking lot to where he had parked his motorcycle earlier in the morning. Without so much as a second's worth of thought, Nate took his only helmet and handed it to Dani.

"Put this on." He directed. "Put the facemask down."

"What about yours?"

Nate shook his head and swung one leg over the bike as he put his hair into a bun.

"Don't worry about it."

When the engine of the motorcycle roared to life, Dani felt her heart rate spike. She hated motorcycles. Absolutely hated them. Every statistic about how stupid it was to get on the back of the two-wheeled death trap rolled through her brain in a continuous loop. Swallowing her fear, Dani climbed onto the back of the bike.

"Put your arms around my waist." Nate instructed softly.

When Dani hesitated, Nate reached behind his back and lightly pulled her arms around his waist. Once he deemed that her grip on him was secure enough, he put his hands on the handlebars of the bike and carefully eased out of the parking lot.

"Take a right, go for seven blocks. Then go left. I'll tell you when to stop." Dani detailed.

Nate nodded in confirmation and revved the engine of the bike before taking off. Dani tightened her hold on his waist and clutched at his jacket with her hands. In no time, they were in front of New Hope. Eric was on the front porch, waiting for Dani to arrive.

"What is this place?" Nate questioned as he parked the motorcycle by the curb.

"My old group home."

Before Nate could ask any follow-up questions, Dani ripped the helmet off and handed it to him as she got off the bike. When she started sprinting up to the house, he dropped the helmet onto the ground and ran after her. Dani didn't even look at Eric before storming into the house. A loud crash came from upstairs, followed by the same angry scream that she had heard over the phone. All of the other girls staying in the home were gathered in the living room, listening to what was going on. Dani paid them no attention and bolted up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

"Samantha, calm down, please!" Becky pleaded.

Her plea was followed by yet another loud crash.

When Dani entered her old room to find Becky standing near the door while Sam tore everything from the shelves on the walls, screaming non-stop as she threw books and state-donated toys across the room. Nate came into the room half a second later, skidding to a halt at the sight before her. Shock had overtaken Dani. Never in the three years that she had known Sam, had she seen an outburst like this. Sam had always been irritable and quick to anger, but this was on another level.

"Her mother was supposed to visit today." Becky told Dani in a whisper. "When she didn't show up, Eric went to her house and found her…"

"You mean she's gone?" Dani clarified, not taking her eyes off of Sam.

"Overdose."

Having the information that she needed, Dani took a step further into the room. Sam was so enveloped in her own rage that she hadn't even noticed Dani's presence. Just as she was about to say something, Sam let out a gut-wrenching, primal scream and pulled her fist back, aiming for the window. Dani reacted immediately, lunging across the room and wrapping her arms around Sam's torso, pinning the young girl's arms to her sides. Sam thrashed in her gasped, sending her head back, directly into Dani's jaw. Dani let out a pained grunt and ignored the taste of blood as she pulled Sam to the ground. Sam continued to scream and yell, using the small amount of reach that she had left to punch Dani's legs repeatedly.

"Let me go!" Sam screamed.

"I'll let you go when you calm down." Dani soothed, refusing to allow any anger to come through in her voice.

"I hate you, Dani! I hate you!"

"I'm calling the police. They'll be able to handle her." Becky announced.

When Dani's eyes went wide with fear, Nate quickly caught on and blocked Becky from leaving the room.

"Let me through, young man." Becky insisted.

Nate looked to Dani for guidance, but when he saw that all emotion had left Dani's eyes as she held on to Sam for dear life, white knuckled and quickly bruising, he took in a contemplative breath and shook his head.

"Call Dani's moms. Tell them what happened. They'll know what to do."

Becky eyed him closely before clicking her tongue doubtfully.

"I hope you're right."

* * *

It took ten minutes for Emily and JJ to arrive at New Hope along with Reid and Morgan. All four of them ran up to the house, finding Eric standing at the bottom of the steps. JJ flinched at the sudden, sharp scream that echoed through the house.

"Let me go, Dani! I hate you!"

"What're you doing just standing down here?" Emily barked, pinning Eric with a glare.

"Samantha is out of control." He grunted. "I can't handle her."

"And a fifteen-year-old girl can?" Reid scoffed.

At the sound of another scream, the four agents bounded up the stairs. Nate quickly gestured them into the room.

The sight of Dani sitting against one of the beds with her arms wrapped around Sam's flailing body, a dark bruise quickly forming on her jaw, scratches and claw marks on her arms, and bruises on her legs sent them all into protective overdrive. They had seen children of victims act like Sam on cases before. They had dealt with these outbursts plenty of times, but never had they seen one as violent as Sam was becoming. Sam continued to scream at the top of her lungs, most of her anger being directed towards Dani in the form of swearing and declarations of hatred. Dani's eyes had glazed over, as she had abandoned any thought that she could effectively calm Sam down. She continued to hold onto Sam tightly, despite the fact that her arms were burning, and most likely bleeding, and her legs were now covered in bruises.

"Let me take this one." Reid offered quietly as he walked further into the room.

Reid carefully made his way in front of Dani and Sam and sat down on the floor. Dani hadn't even registered that he was there, and Sam had done nothing but thrash harder and scream louder.

"Hi, Samantha." Reid greeted kindly, offering a smile. "My name is Spencer."

A piercing wail tore from Sam's lungs and she dug her nails into Dani's arms. Dani's eyes snapped shut as she willed the pain away. Nate instantly stepped forward, but Derek stopped him with a hand to the center of his chest.

"She's hurting Dani." Nate hissed, putting both of his hands on Derek's muscular forearm, attempting to pull it away.

Derek pushed against his chest harder, forcing him out of the room. Nate fought back, the soles of his shoes squeaking against the hardwood floors as he drove forward.

"Nate, you need to relax." Morgan said calmly. "If you get in the middle of that, you'll do more harm than good."

"Dani is _bleeding_ because of that girl's tantrum."

Hearing Nate protests, JJ reluctantly tore herself away from the situation in the bedroom and approached them. She placed her hand on Derek's shoulder, gaining his attention.

"Emily is going to try to get Dani to let go of Sam. Reid got her to stop screaming. I think she'll need your help."

Derek nodded in understanding and quickly went back into the room. Once he was gone, JJ redirected her attention to Nate and gave him a sad smile.

"Dani hasn't told you anything about Sam, or about her childhood, has she?" JJ inquired.

Confused, Nate shook his head.

"It's not my story to tell." JJ continued. "But what I am going to tell you, is that after this is all over, Dani is going to be embarrassed and scared, and she'll think you want nothing to do with her."

"Why would she think that?"

"Again, that's not mine to tell you."

Nate swallowed any further protest and nodded his head in understanding.

"I'll go wait downstairs." He declared softly; his head hung sadly, and his shoulders slumped forward.

JJ watched as Nate returned downstairs, waiting for him to be out of sight before she hurried back into the bedroom. Spencer was kneeling in front of Sam and Dani, while Derek and Emily were on either side of them, pulling lightly at Dani's arms. Sam had finally exhausted herself, and laid limply in Dani's grasp, nodding along weakly while Spencer talked to her.

Dani's eyes still lacked any emotion or focus, her mind having completely retreated from the situation. Cautiously, JJ moved so she was kneeling next to Emily. She reached out and brushed a stray, sweaty strand of hair out of Dani's face and cupped her cheek. Spencer had stopped talking to Sam to give Emily a chance to speak.

"Dani, you need to let Sam go now." Emily whispered. "She's safe. You're safe. Everything is okay now."

"Just let her go, love." JJ coaxed.

For what seemed like the first time since they had been there, Dani blinked. They all watched as she slowly came back to awareness of what had happened and where she was. Her brow furrowed in pain as she looked around her.

"Emily?" She choked out. "JJ?"

"Everything's okay now." Emily assured her. "You need to let Sam go so Morgan can take her downstairs."

Dani's eyes drifted to Sam, who was breathing heavily and slightly pulling against her grasp as Reid held on to her ankles, keeping her from kicking. She cautiously released her grasp on Sam, who immediately tried to spring free, but was quickly scooped up by Derek and taken downstairs. When Sam began to yell again, Dani flinched harshly. JJ looked to Becky, who was staring at Dani, her eyes glued to the multitude of scratches marking her arms.

"Can you get a washcloth wet with warm water and some soap, please?" JJ questioned, cocking an eyebrow letting Becky know that her kind tone was for Dani's benefit and no one else's.

Snapping her attention to JJ, Becky swallowed harshly and nodded before scurrying out of the room. Once she was gone, Emily quickly moved so she was in front of Dani, holding her wrists so that Dani's arms were straight out. Dani had started to pull against Emily's grip, shaking her head.

"I'm okay." She insisted, her voice shaking. "I'm okay."

"I know." Emily nodded as she rubbed her thumbs across Dani's wrists comfortingly.

Becky had returned, shuffling into the room with the washcloth in her hand. She handed the cloth to JJ, who thanked her with a quick smile. As JJ turned back to Dani, Becky began to hover above the three of them, and JJ felt her blood pressure spike. She turned back to Becky with a plastered-on smile and tilted her head to the side.

"Don't you have a situation to handle?"

Becky blinked three times before nodding her head sharply and hurrying out of the room yet again. Taking a deep breath, JJ directed her attention to Dani again.

"Can you look at me, Dani?"

Dani's exhausted gaze moved to JJ, who gave her a warm smile and held up the cloth.

"I'm going to clean these scratches, okay?"

Dani nodded hollowly and watched as JJ carefully patted the scratches on her arms with the cloth. At the first touch, Dani had let out a pained hiss and flinched, instinctively pulling her arms toward her body, but Emily held her arms in place lightly.

"Just look at me." Emily soothed. "Talk to me. How did your exam go?"

"It- it was okay." Dani stammered.

When JJ got to the area that Sam had dug her nails into Dani's skin, drawing blood, Dani couldn't help the pained whimper that escaped her throat.

"I'm almost done." JJ promised softly.

"This is all my fault." Dani cried weakly. "I wasn't around enough. I did this."

"No." Emily insisted. "You didn't do this. What happened to Sam's mom wasn't something you could have seen coming, and none of us saw her doing something like this."

"She learned her anger from me."

JJ looked up from what she was doing, pausing her ministrations while she and Emily watched Dani carefully.

"She watched me be angry at the world for three years." Dani clarified, sniffling. "I did this."

"Dani, look at me." Emily requested.

When Dani focused her eyes on Emily, Emily glanced around the destroyed room and shook her head.

"What happened here…" She started. "Is beyond anything you could have done. This is the anger of a traumatized little girl. _You_ didn't do this. If anything, you kept it from happening sooner."

While Emily was speaking, JJ took the opportunity to finish cleaning Dani's arms. She carefully rolled down the cuffed sleeves of Dani's uniform shirt and kissed Dani's forehead.

"Let me see your face." JJ directed in a low, easy whisper.

Dani turned her head to the side, giving JJ a good look at the bruise on her jaw.

"No swelling." JJ observed. "That's good."

"Let's go downstairs, yeah?" Emily proposed.

Dani nodded and allowed Emily to help her up from the floor. When Dani winced in pain as she stood, but quickly gave Emily and JJ a reassuring smile. As they walked towards the stairs, Emily draped her arm around Dani's shoulders and held her comfortingly. They made it halfway down the stairs before Dani stopped dead in her tracks.

"Nathan didn't stay, did he?"

"He did." JJ hummed. "I thought he was going to punch Derek in the face at one point."

Dani's eyes widened in fear and Emily pulled her even closer.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about." She stated. "He cares about you."

Dani nodded wordlessly and continued down the stairs. When they made it to the first floor of the house, all of the girls in the home directed their wide-eyed attention to Dani. Dani gave them all a shy, forced smile before letting her eyes drift around the rest of the house to the dining room.

Sam was sitting with Spencer and Derek at the dining room table, her eyes on her lap as Derek talked to her. Dani looked to Emily for direction, unsure of whether or not she should go over there. Emily pressed a lingering kiss to the side of Dani's head and nodded.

"We love you."

With one last smile, Dani made her way towards the table. As soon as she sat down next to Reid, Sam pulled her gaze up to look at her.

"Hi." Dani greeted weakly.

"Hi, Dani."

"How're you feeling?"

Sam looked back down at her hands in her lap and answered with a single-shouldered shrug.

"Eric says they're sending me to a new group home." Sam sniffled.

Dani had seen it coming. Whenever a kid lost it even half as much as Sam had, they almost always got a new placement. That didn't keep the news from hitting Dani square in the chest, however. Swallowing her own sadness, Dani nodded.

"It'll be okay." She assured the younger girl. "We'll figure it out."

"Do you hate me?" Sam questioned; her voice laced with dread of Dani's answer.

"I could never hate you, Sam. We're best friends."

Although Sam still couldn't look up at Dani, her shoulders slumped in relief and a comforted smile spread across her lips. The sound of footsteps approaching, and a throat being cleared harshly cut into the moment. Hiding her frustration for Sam's sake, Dani turned around in her chair to find Eric standing in the entryway to the dining room.

"I need to speak with Samantha alone." He announced. "I think it's best if you say goodbye now."

Dani nodded in understanding and stood up from her chair, moving around to the other side of the table and kneeling down next to Sam's chair. Sam turned in her seat, so she faced Dani. Chewing her bottom lip nervously, Sam finally made tearful eye contact with her. Dani mustered as much of a smile as she could and took Sam's hands in her own.

"I promise you that everything is going to be okay."

"You told me that nobody can promise stuff like that."

Guilt washed through Dani's body and she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat as Sam's words settled in her chest.

"I was wrong." Dani stated surely. "I shouldn't have made you think that the world is something you need to fight against. It's not. Everything will work out, okay? I _promise you."_

Sam threw herself into Dani's arms, and Dani hugged her back tightly, ignoring the sharp ache in her arms.

"I love you, Dani." Sam whispered.

All of the emotion of the day's events welled up in Dani, and she fought with everything she had not to break down. Choking back her tears, Dani squeezed Sam even tighter.

"I love you too, Sam."

* * *

As soon as Dani walked out of New Hope, her eyes landed on Nate, who was leaning against his motorcycle, staring at the ground.

"I'll meet you guys in the car, okay?" Dani announced to Emily and JJ, who followed the teen's gaze to Nate.

They both nodded in confirmation and started toward the Range Rover, while Dani made her way down the sidewalk to Nate. Sensing Dani's presence, Nate looked up from the ground and offered her a careful smile.

"Hey." He greeted.

"Hey, blue eyes." Dani smiled, attempting to lighten the mood.

Nate rolled his eyes and turned so he faced Dani.

"So… you lived in a group home." Nate stated, rocking back on his heels.

"I did." Dani confirmed.

"And JJ and Emily are…" He left the end of his statement hanging in the air, giving Dani the chance to fill in the gaps.

"Emily is my birth mother. JJ is her girlfriend. I've lived with them for about three months."

Nate bobbed his head in understanding and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I'm sorry that I come with so much drama." Dani muttered, dropping her own gaze to the ground

Nate's brow furrowed in confusion and he shook his head.

"Don't say that." He stated firmly. "You're the strongest person I know, Dani."

Dani's eyes shot up, eyeing Nate carefully.

"Nathan, I- "

"You held on to Sam even though she was hurting you. You did everything you could to keep _her_ from getting hurt. You did the same thing when Amy was messing with Kate. You didn't think about what could happen to you- you just protected people. It's insane, and scary... but it's also amazing."

"I don't see it that way."

"Exactly." Nate smiled.

Dani laughed breathily and ran a hand through her hair, not even bothering to fight the blush that she felt creeping up on her cheeks.

"Is it okay if I hug you?" Nate asked.

Shocked, Dani nodded hesitantly. In the most gentle, careful motions, Nate pulled Dani into a tight hug. He was so tall that Dani's head only came to the middle of his chest. After a couple seconds, Nate let go and smiled warmly at her.

"I'll see you at school on Monday, yeah?"

Dani nodded quickly in response and Nate got onto his motorcycle. With one last smile, Nate put on his helmet, revved his motorcycle to life, and pulled away from the curb.

As soon as Dani got into the back of Emily's SUV, JJ glanced back at her with a toothy grin.

"He's just my friend, JJ." Dani insisted, not even needed JJ to make a comment.

Emily's response earned a bright laugh from the blonde and a loud groan from Dani.

"He still needs a haircut."

* * *

Later that night, as Emily and JJ were getting ready for bed, a knock at the door grabbed their attention. Dani stood in the doorway, tears threatening to spill over, and her bottom lip quivering violently.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked, patting the bed.

Dani took the hint and immediately crossed the room and crawled onto their bed. She sat in the middle of the bed with her legs crisscrossed and took a deep, contemplative breath.

"I think… um… I think I should talk to someone." She stammered; her voice thick with tears. "A therapist or something."

"Okay." Emily nodded. "We can make that happen."

"Is there anything that you want to talk to us about?" JJ inquired.

Dani nodded hesitantly and looked down at her hands, then up to her arms where the scratches from Sam were still red and irritated.

"What Sam did today… I did it once. When I was really young- seven." She proclaimed. "I screamed so much that I lost my voice for a weak. Sometimes I still get angry like that. Like with Amy… I just see red. I don't want it to happen again."

"We're really proud of you for coming to us with this." Emily responded. "It takes a lot of strength to admit something like that."

"I don't feel strong." Dani muttered. "I feel like a horrible person."

Emily reached out and took Dani's hands in her own, squeezing them tightly.

"There is nothing horrible about you."

Dani lifted her gaze to Emily with a doubtful expression.

"There isn't?"

Both JJ and Emily shook their heads.

"Everything about you is wonderful, and every day you leave us completely astounded at how lucky we are to have you in our lives." JJ insisted.

Dani released a slow, quivering breath and mustered as much of a smile as she could.

"How about we watch a movie?" Emily suggested. "Maybe try to forget about today for a little bit."

"I'll go make popcorn." JJ announced, jumping up from the bed and excitedly going downstairs.

Dani and Emily both chuckled at JJ's excitement as they also got up from the bed. Once they stood up, Emily wrapped her arms around Dani in a comforting embrace.

"JJ's right, you know." She whispered. "We really are lucky to have you."

Dani looped her arms around Emily's waist, returning the hug firmly.

"I think all three of us are lucky."

**I hope you liked this chapter!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here's chapter 12! **

**I know a lot of you are surprised that Dani is acclimating so quickly, but honestly, with the way that I want to take this story, I can't have her being combative and at a distance for very long, if that makes sense. It really isn't going to be sunshine and rainbows, but I do want to get into the three of them really being a family soon. I can understand how that's a bit different than I had originally had it, but my vision for this story changed and I personally think it changed for the better.**

**With that being said, I do hope that you're all still enjoying this story.**

**Peace and love**

**-C**

"Alright, Princess." Derek began, placing on hand on each side of the punching bag between him and Dani. "I want you to hit this thing as hard as you can."

Dani looked down at her hands, replaying the way Derek had wrapped them in her head. The wraps were tight enough that she was fully aware of them at all times, but not so tight as to be uncomfortable.

"Hey." Derek called, stepping away from the punching bag and moving closer to Dani.

Once Dani looked up at him, he gave her a reassuring smile and lightly punched her shoulder.

"This'll be good for you." He assured her. "It'll get some of that anger out in a healthy way."

Nodding her agreement, Dani flexed her hands a couple of times while Derek retook his place behind the punching bag, stabilizing it. After a slow, deep breath, Dani drove her fist into the bright red punching bag, resulting in a satisfying thud. Not expecting Dani to have so much strength behind her punch, Derek was surprised when the bag jolted back against his chest.

"That's what I'm talking about!" He praised. "Now try to stay on the balls of your feet. Keep moving. Throw a few good ones, then we'll work on a combination."

Dani nodded wordlessly and lifted her fists up towards her face like she had seen boxers do in movies. She leaned onto the balls of her feet and jumped from one foot to the other, getting a feel for the stance.

"There you go." Derek nodded.

Dani threw her fists toward the bag again, one at a time. She landed six solid jabs in a row, only stopping when Derek let go of the bag. He stepped out from behind it and moved across the otherwise empty FBI training room. As he walked away, Dani landed a few extra punches. The sound of loud, padded clapping broke her concentration, and she looked back to Derek, who was now wearing red and black punching mitts. He had a devilish smirk on his face as he walked to the center of the sparring mat in the middle of the room. Without saying anything, he pointed to a spot a few feet away from him. Dani took the hint and stood where she was told, watching Derek closely.

Sensing Dani's unease, Derek pinned her with a steady, serious gaze.

"You trust me?" He asked.

Dani thought for a moment, genuinely contemplating whether or not she trusted him. After a few heavy seconds, she nodded and lifted her fists back up to her face. With a toothy grin, Derek lifted one of the mitts in the air. Dani's fist landed square in the middle of it within a second. He did the same with the other hand and got the same result. Dani's focus had zeroed in, and although her eyes were narrowed into a harsh glare, she was smiling like a little kid on Christmas morning.

"You ready to speed it up a bit?" Derek challenged.

"Let's go." Dani nodded.

The training room was soon filled with the sound of Dani's fists meeting Derek's palms with heavy thuds, and Derek's occasional bark of direction. In all of his years training FBI agents in self-defense, Derek had never seen someone take to boxing drills as quickly as Dani had. Of course, she stumbled over her own feet a few times and missed a few jabs, but for the most part she moved around the mat with ease and anticipated Derek's movements like a pro.

By the time they were done, they had both sweat through their grey FBI hoodies. As soon as Derek dropped the training mitts, Dani bent at the waist and braced her hands on her knees as she fought to catch her breath. Every muscle in her body was on fire and sweat was pouring off of her face and onto the sparring mat, but she had never felt more alive than she did in that very moment. Derek removed his mitts and clapped a hand on Dani's back.

"You're a force to be reckoned with, Princess." He breathed. "Now let's head upstairs."

* * *

As soon as Derek and Dani walked into the bullpen, Penelope cut them off. Penelope's hand shot up to Dani's chin, gently turning Dani's face to the side. Dani pushed down her instinct to force Penelope's hand away from her and allowed the older woman's examination of the dark, blue and black bruise on her jaw.

"My poor Sugar Plum." Penelope sighed.

"I'm fine, Pen." Dani insisted, wincing when Penelope gently brushed over the bruise with her thumb. "First the hospital, and now you look like you went one round with Mike Tyson. You really are far too much like your mother."

"It's just a bruise, baby girl." Derek chuckled, walking to his desk and placing his gym bag in his chair.

Penelope let go of Dani's chin and spun around to pin Derek with a glare.

"And you, Sir." She snipped. "What on Earth were you thinking, working her so hard when she's injured?"

"Penelope." Dani groaned as she sat down in Emily's empty desk chair. "I'm not _injured_. It doesn't even hurt."

"Excuse me!" Emily hollered as she came out of JJ's office. "Why are you sweating in my chair?"

Dani gave Emily a shit-eating grin and batted her eyelashes.

"I really am very tired, Emily." She said dramatically. "I just needed to sit down for a second."

"Next time, go sit in JJ's chair." Emily grumbled.

"Do not do that!" JJ yelled in response from her office.

Dani pushed herself up from the chair and opened her arms wide, taking a step towards Emily with a maniacal grin.

"Want a hug, Agent Prentiss?" She questioned.

Emily took a quick step back and held her hands up in defense.

"Don't even think about it, Young Lady." She warned. "I will ground you for a year."

"Aw, come on." Dani whined. "Just one hug."

"Dani, leave your mother alone." JJ sighed as she walked out of her office and into the bullpen with a stack of files in her arms. "Remember you have your appointment upstairs in an hour."

Dani forced a nervous, tight-lipped smile and watched as JJ placed a file on each desk.

"You have a new case?" Dani questioned.

JJ inhaled deeply and nodded apologetically.

"Hotch, Spence, and Rossi are already at the airport. Hotch wants us there in an hour."

"Where are you going?"

"South Carolina."

Emily took the file from her desk and flipped it open, not anticipating any pictures being in the front of the file. As soon as she opened it, Dani choked down a shocked gasp, but wasn't able to completely stop the noise from leaving her lips. Emily quickly snapped the file shut and turned to face Dani, who's face had paled and gone a dangerous shade of green.

"Those women didn't have heads." Dani stated, obviously speaking through the immediate urge to vomit. "Someone cut their heads off."

"Breathe, Princess." Derek instructed, placing a hand on Dani's shoulder.

Dani instantly pushed Derek's hand off of her shoulder and tugged at the neck of her hoodie.

"I'm good." She insisted, clearing her throat harshly. "I should go shower before my appointment."

Quickly, Dani grabbed her duffel bag from under Emily's desk and threw the strap over her shoulder before giving both Emily and JJ hugs that were so hurried that they hardly happened.

"Be safe, yeah?" She requested. "I'll see you in a few days."

"We love you." JJ called out as Dani all but ran out of the bullpen and back toward the gym.

Dani threw a wave of acknowledgment over her shoulder and swiftly disappeared around the corner.

* * *

Dani stood right outside the door of Doctor Stone's office. Her heart was pounding so hard that she was certain it was going to burst from her chest. Taking on last deep breath, Dani lifted her knuckles to the wooden door and knocked three times. Not even half a second later, the door flew open to reveal the complete opposite of what Dani had been expecting. She had thought that Doctor Stone, psychiatrist to FBI agents, would've been an old, hardened, crotchety old man who specialized in telling the hardest of law enforcement officials to suck it up. Instead, a young woman who couldn't have been much older than Emily, wearing a bright yellow cardigan, a crisp, white button up, and jeans stood before her with a brilliant smile.

"You must be Daniella." Doctor Stone deduced.

"I prefer to be called Dani."

Doctor Stone nodded in understanding and stood aside, ushering Dani into her office. The office was dimly lit and was decorated with several plants and vibrant art. Dani carefully looked around the room as Doctor Stone closed the door.

"Agent Jareau did mention that you go by Dani." Doctor Stone affirmed. "You can call me Amelia… have a seat."

Dani awkwardly took a seat on the black leather couch in the corner of the room, while Amelia sat down in the armchair adjacent to her.

"You're uncomfortable." Amelia observed.

Dani chuckled nervously as she picked at a loose thread in her jeans.

"You could say that."

"Want to tell me why?"

Dani hesitated, chewing her bottom lip as she searched for the right words.

"It's weird that I'm seeing an FBI psychiatrist." She settled on.

Amelia bobbed her head in understanding and folded her hands together over the yellow legal pad that was rested on her knee.

"The Bureau provides therapy for all employees and their families." She clarified.

"Right." Dani responded. "Smart."

"I agree. Having an agent in the family can be stressful. I'm sure having two is unbearable at times."

Dani scoffed and pulled her legs up, so she sat in the middle of the couch with her legs crisscrossed.

"It's scary as hell." She admitted. "I mean, if something happens to Emily, then I'll get taken away from JJ, because she's technically not a guardian. If something happens to JJ, then I think Emily would lose her mind. I've never seen anyone love as hard as Emily loves JJ. Then, to top that all off… there's Derek, Spencer, Rossi, and Hotch all in the field too."

"So, you're worrying about the whole team every time they leave." Amelia added, writing on her legal pad as Dani spoke.

"Exactly." Dani confirmed. "I hang out here when they're gone in case something happens. That way I'll get the news faster."

"What do you do to counteract that stress?" Amelia inquired.

"I've been working out with Derek. I mean, Agent Morgan. Do I have to call them by their professional names? Does it matter?"

"You can call them whatever you're comfortable with."

"Right." Dani sighed, pulling her hair up into a ponytail roughly.

"I understand that you just recently reconnected with Agent Prentiss." Amelia prompted. "Can you talk to me about that."

"Uh… yeah, I guess." Dani nodded. "Long story short, about three months ago, I was trying to get emancipated, but the judge didn't grant it, and he put me in Emily's custody because she's my birth mother. I've been with them ever since."

"And how has that been going?"

Dani chuckled to herself and the corners of her lips turned up into a small smile.

"We've had our ups and downs."

"Every family does." Amelia affirmed. "Are you happy with them?"

Without hesitation, Dani nodded. Amelia smiled and continued to write down notes.

"You still call them by their first names, though." She observed. "Why is that?"

Dani dropped her gaze back to her lap and shrugged.

"Do you not think of them as your parents?" Amelia inquired.

"I didn't at first." Dani confessed.

"But you do now."

Dani cleared her throat thickly and shrugged again.

"They make sure I'm happy and fed and taken care of. They were nothing but kind to me from the start, and they would always ask me if I needed anything. When I was being an asshole, they didn't give up on me, even when they were mad. Whenever I call, they answer. Even if they're working. If they know they won't be available, one of them will text me, or they'll have Penelope tell me. They always make sure to tell me that they love me."

"Dani, that's what mothers do." Amelia stated warmly. "Wonderful ones, at that."

"I guess I'm just scared." Dani whispered.

"Of what?"

"What if as soon as I get comfortable, they decide they don't want me?"

Amelia released a slow breath and eyed Dani for a few seconds before tilting her head to the side slightly.

"You seem like a rather intelligent young woman." Amelia began. "And after being in the foster care system for so long, I'm sure you've learned that people don't so readily show love to people that they deem as temporary. "

"They don't show it at all." Dani confirmed.

"So, think about it. Agents Prentiss and Jareau go out of their way to make sure that they are giving you everything you need. You said yourself that they tell you they love you often. Does it sound to you like they think of you as temporary?"

"I guess not." Dani exhaled.

"I'm not saying you have to make any big moves in your relationship with them." Amelia insisted. "I'm just giving you something to think about."

"Got it."

As the conversation lulled, Amelia drew a line all the way across her notes and tapped the end of her pen against her notepad.

"I don't think I'm very good at this therapy thing." Dani admitted shyly.

"The first session is always the hardest."

"What happens if you think I'm crazy?"

"I can already tell you that I won't think you're crazy." Amelia chuckled.

Dani couldn't help but laugh as well, as she continued to pick at her jeans.

"Now what do we talk about?" Dani asked.

"Anything you want to talk about."

Dani thought for a moment, and her eyes drifted down to the scars on her knuckles. Carefully, she ran her fingers over her right hand, feeling each raised mark. She inhaled deeply and held the air in her lungs for a few seconds before releasing it slowly.

"I started playing piano when I was two…"

* * *

Laughter filled Penelope's lair as she and Dani fought over the very last egg roll, just like they did every time they ordered Chinese food.

"You got it last time!" Penelope exclaimed, using her chopsticks to push Dani's hand away.

"I'm a growing girl." Dani argued, going to the egg roll once more.

Penelope only conceded when her phone started ringing.

"I shall be avenged." She declared as she hit the button to answer the call and Dani shoved half of the egg roll in her mouth triumphantly.

"Speak and you shall be heard, Mortal."

"_Hey, Babygirl." _Derek greeted, out of breath. _"Uh… I'm not on speaker, am I?"_

"You are, and Dani is here. Why?"

"Derek?" Dani interjected. "What's wrong?"

"_We're coming home tonight, but um… JJ wanted me to call and warn you- "_

"Warn me about what?" Dani questioned, jumping up from her chair and moving so she was closer to the speaker of the phone. "Why didn't JJ call herself?"

"_She's with Emily."_

Ice water filled Dani's veins as her hands began to shake and her heart rate practically doubled.

"Where's Emily, Derek?"

"_Dani, just know that she's okay. It was a through-and-through. The doctor didn't even say she needed to stay the night."_

"Spit it out, Morgan." Dani snapped, slamming her fist down on Penelope's desk.

"_Emily was shot."_

* * *

It took three hours for the team to land back in DC from South Carolina that night. Dani had paced the floor of the bullpen for the entire time, and Penelope was genuinely surprised that she hadn't worn any holes in the carpet. As soon as she heard the elevator ding, signaling the team's arrival, Dani's gaze shot up from the floor. Hotch and Rossi were the first ones out of the elevator, followed by Reid, and then finally Derek, JJ, and Emily brought up the rear. Emily was leaning into JJ ever-so-slightly, and the blonde had her arm wrapped protectively around Emily's waist. Emily's left arm was in a sling. Her face was pale, and her brow was furrowed in the most obvious display of pain. Reid and Derek both held the doors to the bullpen open, and JJ shot them a grateful smile.

Dani stood with her arms crossed tightly over her chest, as if she were hugging herself. She was chewing her bottom lip harshly, and her fear-filled eyes were glued to Emily. JJ delivered Emily to her desk, and Emily perched herself on the edge of it. All eyes were on Dani, who hadn't said a word or made a single sound. All she did was stare at Emily. Weakly, but with as much of a smile as she could muster, Emily lifted her good arm and motioned for Dani to come to her. Dani took one small step forward, before stopping in her tracks and letting out a pitiful whimper.

"It's okay, honey." Emily assured her, motioning her closer again.

JJ moved so she stood beside Dani and pressed a soft kiss to her temple as she ran a hand through Dani's hair.

"You won't hurt her." JJ whispered.

"I need a hug from my daughter." Emily insisted.

With the slowest, most hesitant movements, Dani closed the gap between herself and Emily. She waited until Emily pulled her into a firm embrace before gingerly wrapping her arms around Emily's waist and burying her face in the crook of Emily's neck. The way Dani trembled as she tried to keep all of her emotion in broke Emily's heart. The rest of the people in the room faded away as JJ made her way toward the two brunette's and wrapped her arms around them both. When Dani let out a small, choked sob, Emily hugged her tighter, ignoring the painful protests from her injured arm.

"Everything's okay." She soothed. "It's all okay."

**The last part of the chapter was inspired by the episode "A Thin Line", where Emily gets shot in the arm. If y'all haven't seen that episode, it's a good one. Well, they're all good… but still.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi y'all. Here's the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy it.**

"Dani, can you set the table please?"

Dani instantly stopped reading her book and put it on the coffee table as she pushed herself up from the couch and walked into the kitchen. As soon as she entered the kitchen, she stopped dead in her tracks. JJ was a hurricane of a woman, moving from one thing to the other so quickly that she was more of a blur than a solid form. The counters were a mess, every burner on the stove had something on it, and the oven was full.

"Is everything okay?" Dani inquired, carefully maneuvering past JJ as to not cut off the blonde's path as she moved from the stove to the sink.

JJ looked up from the dish she was washing and gave Dani a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Yeah." She lied. "I'm just trying to get dinner ready."

Just as Dani began setting the dining room table for six people, Emily burst into the house with the desert that JJ had ordered balanced treacherously on her good arm. Dani immediately ran to her mother's rescue, taking the desert from her while Emily kicked the door closed.

"Thank you." Emily sighed gratefully. "Jen would've had a stroke if I dropped those."

"Why's she so stressed out?" Dani asked in a careful whisper. "It's just her parents."

Emily nodded and let out a slow breath as she kicked off her shoes.

"JJ and her mom have a complicated relationship."

Dani nodded in understanding, deciding not to push the matter any further. Emily probably wouldn't have told her anyway, and she really only wanted to know if it was coming from JJ. Without another word, Dani delivered the desert into the kitchen and went back to setting the table.

"Can I do anything, babe?" Emily offered, stopping JJ for a quick kiss.

"You can go rest." JJ responded surely. "The doctor said you need to rest as much as possible."

"I can help make dinner, Jay." Emily chuckled.

"Not with a gunshot wound, you can't." JJ countered.

Rolling her eyes dramatically, Emily slouched back into the living room and sat down on the couch. Dani watched her closely, noticing the way she adjusted her arm in her sling, wincing with every movement. Forcing herself out of her worry, Dani began shifting the plates on the table, making them all uniform. She busied herself with ridiculous, pointless tasks until the doorbell rang.

"Shit." JJ hissed from the kitchen.

"I've got it!" Dani called, jogging to the door.

As Dani passed through the kitchen, JJ shot her a thankful smile. Emily met Dani at the door and they both took a simultaneous deep breath before opening. As soon as Dani pulled the door open, a petite blonde woman burst into the foyer.

"Oh, Emily Darling!" The woman bellowed. "Look at you! You poor thing!"

"It's really nothing, Carolyn." Emily insisted as she allowed the older woman to give her a single-armed hug.

Carolyn pulled herself away from Emily and turned to Dani, who was standing awkwardly with her hand still on the handle of the open door. The corners of Carolyn's wide smile twitched downward ever-so-slightly, and Dani felt a pang of disappointment in her chest.

"Well…" Carolyn huffed. "You must be Dani."

With a nod, Dani offered her hand for Carolyn to shake. Carolyn looked down at Dani's outstretched hand for a second before bringing her gaze back up to Dani's eyes and tucking her hands into the pockets of her coat.

"It's very nice to meet you, young lady." She stated. "You are just a spitting image of your mother."

"Thank you, Ma'am." Dani smiled.

"Emily, get on over here."

In the midst of the show that Carolyn had put on, Dani hadn't even noticed JJ's father when he walked into the foyer. A brilliant smile spread across Emily's face as she hugged the man tightly.

"How're you feeling, my dear?" He inquired, pinning Emily with the softest 'don't you dare lie to me' look.

Dani recognized that look. It was pure JJ.

"I'm feeling alright, John." Emily assured him. "Getting better every day."

"You've got to be more careful now that you have this beautiful young woman in your life." John smiled, turning to Dani. "Are you a hugger, or would you prefer a handshake?"

Surprised by the question, Dani offered her hand just like she had to Carolyn. This time, her offer was accepted as John took her hand in both of his and squeezed it warmly.

"It's nice to meet you, sir."

"None of that 'sir' nonsense!" John insisted. "You're family, kid. Call me John."

"Yes, sir."

John just smiled and winked at Dani as he clapped his hand onto her shoulder.

"We'll work on it."

"Where on Earth is Jennifer?" Carolyn questioned, making sure her voice was loud enough to be heard in the rest of the house.

"I'm right here, Mom." JJ breathed as she came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel.

"You look so tired, Jennifer." Carolyn tutted as she hugged JJ. "Have you been sleeping?"

"Yes, Mom. I've been sleeping."

JJ turned to her father and her face lit up. Without any hesitation, JJ threw her arms around John's shoulders and hugged him tightly.

"Hi, Dad."

"It's so good to see you, Jenny."

Carolyn had walked out of the foyer and into the living room. As she examined the state of the house, she had pulled off her coat and draped it over her arm. As soon as Dani had walked into the space, Carolyn turned around and held her coat out for Dani to take.

"Do stash that in a closet somewhere, please Dear."

"Mom, you know where the coat closet is- "

"It's no problem." Dani smiled, cutting JJ off. "I'll go hang it up."

Dutifully, Dani took Carolyn's coat and shuffled back into the foyer towards the coat closet. She listened carefully to the conversation that had begun as she made sure that Carolyn's coat was hanging nicely, as to ensure that there wouldn't be any out of place creases at the end of the night. When Dani returned into the living room, JJ had already gone back into the kitchen to finish dinner while Emily went to get John and Carolyn something to drink. John had noticed Dani's copy of Crime and Punishment on the coffee table and had glanced at it with an impressed expression.

"I can't imagine Jenny is reading something so dark." He commented. "Is this yours or Emily's?"

Dani perched herself on the arm of the armchair adjacent to the couch and folded her hands in her lap.

"It's Emily's, but I'm borrowing it." Dani clarified.

"And you understand it?" Carolyn interjected, leaning back into the couch and pinning Dani with a doubtful gaze.

"Carolyn." John chastised. "Why on Earth would you ask a question like that?"

"What, John?" Carolyn defended. "It's a proven fact that foster children have lower reading and writing scores. Academics just aren't where they shine!"

Dani cleared her throat awkwardly and rubbed the back of her neck. Anger was burning in her chest so intensely that she was sure she was going to choke on it, but for JJ's sake, she pushed it down and swallowed her pride.

"I can understand it just fine, ma'am." She responded calmly.

"Dinner is ready, you three!" Emily announced as she barely managed to carry both of John and Carolyn's drinks without spilling.

Dani shot up from where she was sitting and all but ran into the dining room, grateful for the fact that she would now have a buffer between her and Carolyn.

"Dani, can you help me bring all of this out?" JJ called from the kitchen.

Without any hesitation, Dani diverted her path toward the table and circled back to the kitchen. When she walked in, JJ was attempting to balance several dishes in her arms. Laughing lightly, Dani took two of the four from her.

"It's dinner, JJ." She smiled. "Not Circ de Soleil."

JJ playfully stuck her tongue out at the young girl, earning yet another bout of bright laughter. When Dani's laughter died down, she cleared her throat, gathering the courage to speak.

"Hey, JJ?"

"Yes?"

"You did an amazing job with all of this." Dani told her with utmost sincerity. "And you don't look tired. You look great."

A warm, gentle smile spread across JJ's face.

"Let's go have dinner, love."

* * *

"So, Dani…" John began, wiping his face with his napkin. "Tell me about school. You're enjoying it, yes?"

"The girl goes to an expensive private school." Carolyn interjected with a scoff. "She'd better be enjoying it with all of the money Jennifer and Emily are spending."

"Mom- "

"I am enjoying it." Dani nodded, cutting JJ's protests off for what felt like the hundredth time that night. "My classes are going well."

"I understand you have an affinity for languages." John stated.

"I suppose I do."

"Jennifer never could seem to grasp Spanish in high school." Carolyn sighed. "That was always her sister's area."

Dani's eyes flickered to JJ's who had ducked her head. The sadness that flashed through JJ's eyes made Dani's blood boil. Her hands clenched into fists where they lay on the table, and she could feel Emily's steady gaze on her from across the table. Glancing to her mother, Dani obeyed the discreet 'leave it be' shake of her head that Emily gave her.

"It's not for everyone." Dani conceded, forcing a smile.

"How has work been going for you, Jennifer?" Carolyn inquired, obviously diverting the subject away from any focus on Dani. "You're not still parading around with that gun on your hip, are you?"

"She's not parading around, Carolyn." Emily interjected with an artificial smile. "Jen is actually the best shot on the team."

"Well I still don't see why she even needs a gun to begin with."

"I'm an FBI Agent, mom." JJ sighed. "The gun is part of the job."

"You're the public relations woman." Carolyn argued. "You don't need a gun."

"Lead Communications Liaison." Dani corrected, not looking up from the food that she was pushing around her plate.

"What was that?" Carolyn responded, her voice heightening in pitch. "Speak up if you have something to say."

"Carolyn, what has gotten into you?" John questioned, looking at his wife in disgust.

"Daniella." Emily warned.

Dani ignored Emily's warning and dropped her fork down onto her plate, resulting in a loud clatter.

"JJ is the Lead Communications Liaison for the Behavioral Analysis Unit." Dani snipped, lifting her gaze to Carolyn and pinning her with a cold glare. "Not only does she do all of the work of a field agent, but she's also the link between every community they protect and law enforcement. Everything that gets released to the public goes through her. Every interview, every news article, every radio broadcast. JJ and her title deserve respect, especially from her mother of all people."

Everyone stared at Dani in awe. John was smiling brilliantly. Emily's lips were turned up into a careful smile, and JJ's eyes were so wide with shock that it was a miracle that they hadn't popped out. Carolyn looked like her head was going to explode as she glared at Dani fiercely.

"All night I have listened to you belittle JJ and the work she has done." Dani continued, keeping her voice dangerously calm. "I allowed you to insult me and say whatever you wanted about me, because frankly, I don't give a damn what you think of me. However, as soon as you take aim at either one of my moms, it's game over. You do not come into this home and disrespect them. Am I clear?"

"Dani, go to your room." JJ ordered; her eyes glued to the table.

Dani watched JJ carefully for a moment, attempting to read her expression. Not able to figure out what JJ was feeling, Dani pushed herself up from her chair and tossed her napkin onto the table before trudging up to her room. Once they heard Dani's bedroom door close, JJ lifted her gaze to her mother and set her jaw.

"What the hell was all that about?" JJ interrogated. "Why are you treating our daughter like she's some sort of degenerate?"

"You mean Emily's daughter." Carolyn corrected. "Dani is not your daughter, Jennifer."

"Carolyn!" John barked. "That is enough."

JJ took a deep, calming breath and took a few seconds to compose herself before speaking.

"Whether or not I am Dani's mother is up to her, and no one else." JJ stated.

"Jen…" Emily began, only to be silenced by the pleading glance that JJ sent her way.

"Until tonight, I wasn't sure how Dani felt about me." She admitted. "I was worried that I was nothing more than her mother's girlfriend, or at best a glorified stepmom. Even if that was the case, I can tell you that I would walk through fire for that girl. If I could take away every ounce of pain that she has ever felt and ever will feel, I would do it in a heartbeat. "

"Jennifer- "

"No, Mom. It is my turn to talk."

Carolyn clenched her jaw and leaned back in her chair, nodding her head curtly, allowing JJ to continue.

"Aside from my job, which brought me Emily, Dani is the best thing to ever happen to me. I didn't think it was possible to love someone so fully, so quickly. She is kind and smart, and funny, and she would do anything for the people that she loves. Dani is everything that anyone could ever want in a daughter. Does she have things to work through? Of course, she does. Does that mean that I love her any less? Absolutely not. I love her and her mother with every fiber of my being, and if you cannot respect that, then you have no business in our home."

Emily reached out and took JJ's trembling hand in her own. JJ turned her head to look at her girlfriend, finding her with tears silently rolling down her face and a warm smile gracing her lips.

"I love you so much." Emily declared, her voice barely above a whisper.

"That was beautiful, Jenny." John smiled.

All eyes fell on Carolyn, who had dropped her gaze back to her wine glass as she spun it slowly.

"I suppose I was a bit rash with my judgements of her." Carolyn conceded.

"You accused to girl of not being able to read and insinuated that she wasn't worth the cost of her schooling." John snipped. "You weren't just rash in judgment, Carolyn. You were malicious and insulting. I think you owe her an apology."

"I will not apologize to a teenager." Carolyn scoffed.

"Something tells me she wouldn't accept your apology anyway, Carolyn." Emily responded coldly.

With a pointed sigh, JJ stood from the table.

"I think dinner is over." She announced.

"I think you're right." John agreed, also standing up from the table.

"But we've hardly started." Carolyn argued.

JJ crossed her arms over her chest and pinned her mother with a steady gaze.

"Mom, I love you, but until you can accept Dani into this family, we have nothing to say to each other."

"You're being childish, Jennifer."

"No, I'm being a good mother." JJ corrected. "A mother who supports her daughter."

* * *

A light knock at her bedroom door pulled Dani's attention away from the ceiling fan as she watched it spin. Exhaling slowly, Dani pushed herself into a sitting position against her headboard and hugged a pillow to her chest, resting her chin on top of it.

"Come in." She called.

The door opened slowly, and JJ was the first to enter the room, holding the very desert that Emily had nearly dropped in the foyer and three forks. Emily was right behind her, and they both crawled onto Dani's bed, sitting against the headboard on either side of her.

"Did someone order a chocolate ganache cake?" JJ inquired, wiggling her eyebrows mischievously.

"I thought you were mad at me?" Dani questioned, hesitantly taking the fork that JJ handed her.

"You did nothing wrong." JJ insisted, making sure that Dani knew that she meant it. "My mother was rude and judgmental, and you had every right to stand up for yourself."

Without even bothering to cut the cake, Emily dug her fork into the middle. Dani followed suit, and so did JJ. As soon as they all took a bite, they let out a simultaneous satisfied groan.

"That is sinful." JJ chuckled, going in for another bite.

"Did you mean what you said?" Dani blurted, directing her attention to JJ with a timid gaze. "To Carolyn… about me?"

JJ carefully swallowed the bite of cake that she had in her mouth, and the corners of her mouth twitched up into a smile.

"You heard all of that?"

Dani ducked her head and nodded shamefully.

"I wanted to make sure that you were okay, so I listened at the top of the stairs. Once you stopped talking, I came back in here."

JJ eyed Dani carefully, nudging her lightly with her elbow, causing Dani to look up at her.

"I meant every single word."

* * *

The very same day that Emily had been cleared to go back to work, the team had been requested for a case in Texas. Dani had already been on edge from the second that she found out Emily was going back to work so soon, so it was no surprise that she had objections when Emily called her to tell her that they would be flying to Texas. The guilt that both Emily and JJ felt every time they got on the jet to work a case hadn't gotten any easier over the past few months. If anything, it had gotten worse as the three of them had grown closer as a family.

Emily sat in the middle of the unairconditioned, Dallas PD conference room that the team had commandeered, attempting to fix the decades-old metal desk fan that sat in the middle of the conference room. As JJ, Rossi, Morgan, and Reid were all reading over case files around the table, Emily muttered and cursed to herself in several languages as she repeatedly banged on the metal grating of the fan.

"I don't think that's going to help, Prentiss." Derek chuckled, shaking his head.

"You want to fix it then?" Emily snapped, throwing a dagger-sharp glare his way.

Before anyone could react to Emily's show of frustration, the shrill ringing of Derek's cell phone filled the air. Not taking his eyes off of Emily, he pulled his phone from the clip on his belt and answered it.

"Hey, Babygirl." He greeted. "You're on speaker."

"_Oh, wonderful."_ Garcia responded. _"I was digging through the third victim's credit card history, and I found something interesting. All four of our victims made regular purchases at music store in downtown Dallas."_

"Dante Mills was a drummer." JJ stated, looking down at the file she was holding.

"Craig Wallace played guitar." Reid added, holding up his own file.

"Both Shawn Ferguson and Trevor Norris played several instruments." Rossi continued.

"_The name of the store is Zercher Intrumentals."_ Penelope announced. _"I emailed all of you the address."_

"Thanks, Babygirl." Derek called into the phone.

"Hey, Garcia?" JJ quickly interjected, leaning forward onto the table. "Is Dani there with you?"

"_Oh, sweet JJ."_ Penelope sighed. _"That girl was all kinds of squirrely tonight. Nate came and picked her up about an hour ago. They went for ice cream, and before you ask, he was not driving the motorcycle."_

"What do you mean all kinds of squirrely?" Emily questioned.

"_This case is a hard one for her, I think. With it being your first one back."_

"It's normal for her to be nervous." Rossi affirmed. "It'll pass."

Emily and JJ both nodded in hesitant agreement.

"_I'd call her when you get the chance, Mama Bears."_ Penelope suggested. _"I think she'd feel better if she heard from you."_

"Will do, Pen." Emily confirmed. "Thank you."

"_Anything for my gorgeous lady crime fighters. Now go catch a bad guy so you can come home."_

**I hope you all liked this chapter. Up next is a little look into Nate's life, and then some other stuff that I'm excited to write. Thank you for reading!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey, y'all! This is a short-ish, kinda fluffy chapter that I think some of you honestly might not be too fond of, but I'm happy with it. I think that the relationship between Emily, JJ, and Dani has grown enough for these milestones to happen in this chapter. Regardless, I hope you all enjoy it.**

**Peace and love**

**-C**

Music quietly filled the empty space in Nate's car as he and Dani sat silently in front of Penelope's house. Nate flexed his hands where they rested on the steering wheel before dropping them into his lap. Dani had hardly said a word in the two hours that they had spent together. Her brow was knit together so tightly in thought that Nate wasn't sure it would ever go back to normal. He had tried everything from making her laugh to bringing up the way Mister Lawrence mispronounced most of what he taught them in French, trying to pull Dani out of her head, but to no avail. He could see in her eyes that her mind was racing at a thousand miles a minute. Every time Dani checked her phone, the most confusing mix of relief and disappointment that Nate had ever seen would wash over her features.

Nate looked over at Dani, taking in the way she was massaging her knuckles and flexing her hands in her lap. He had picked up on her nervous habit quickly, although she hadn't told him how she got the scars on her hands, and he hadn't gathered the nerve to ask.

"I'm sure they're just fine." Nate assured her softly. "They'll probably call soon."

Dani gave a noncommittal hum in response, not even bothering to redirect her attention from the setting sun in front of them. Nate knew that she hadn't even heard him, just like she hadn't all evening.

"Dani." He called, reaching across the interior of the Jeep and waving his hand in front of her face.

Dani's eyes snapped to him with a harsh glare before immediately softening upon seeing the open, worried expression on Nate's face. Nate gave Dani a lazy, lop-sided smile as she released a huff of a breath and sunk into her seat, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"Have I told you about Charlie?" Nate inquired.

Dani turned her head to the side, resting it against the seat. She examined Nate's face for a moment before shaking her head ever so slightly. She stayed silent, inviting him to keep talking. Nate took a deep breath and cleared his throat as he ran a hand through his hair. After a moment, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He unfolded it silently and pulled out a small picture. With a shaky hand, he held it out to Dani. Carefully, Dani took the picture from him. It was of a young man with the same crystal-clear blue eyes as Nate. Dani was willing to bet that under his white, Marine uniform cap would be the same chestnut brown hair, buzzed down to a crew cut.

"My older brother, Charlie, was a Marine." Nate clarified, shifting his gaze to look out the windshield. "I worried about him every single day, just waiting for bad news, for three years."

"You're speaking in past tense." Dani stated, her voice barely above a whisper.

Nate nodded and set his jaw as he fought to control the emotion that had built up in his chest.

"He died six months ago."

Without even having to think about it, Dani reached across the center of the car and grabbed Nate's shaking hand, squeezing it comfortingly. Within a second, Nate squeezed her hand back gently.

"I'm so sorry, Nathan." Dani whispered.

Nate gave her a single-shouldered shrug as he directed his gaze back to her.

"I'm telling you now, because I really don't want you spending your whole life worrying about what _might_ happen to your moms."

The strong, unwavering sincerity in Nate's voice settled deep into Dani's chest as she listened to him.

"I spent three years worrying about Charlie, and now that he's gone, I realize that he didn't want that. He was my best friend, and he was a hero, and I know that the last thing he would want is for me to be stuck in my head, picking apart any bad thing that could happen. He joined the Marines to fight for my family and I so we could live our lives, proud of who he was and what he was doing. Does that make sense?"

Tearfully, Dani nodded, and Nate gave her a crooked smile

"Your moms are heroes." Nate continued. "Be proud of that and cherish the weeks that they're home between cases. I guarantee that the last thing they want is for you to be sitting in my car, worrying about whether or not they're okay."

"You're right." Dani nodded. "They wouldn't want me in your car to begin with."

Laughter tumbled past Nate's lips and he rolled his eyes dramatically.

"JJ likes me, I think." He offered. "Emily? Not so much."

"They both like you." Dani corrected. "Emily isn't a fan of your motorcycle, but then again, neither am I."

"It's perfectly safe." Nate argued.

"Statistically, no its not." Dani countered.

Laughter quickly filled the space of the car and didn't die out for several moments. Once it did, Nate's eyes flickered down to where their hands stayed interlocked. Gently, Nate ran his thumb over the scars on Dani's knuckles. Dani's hand flinched at the unexpected contact, but much to her own surprise, she didn't pull away. Her eyes moved from their hands, to Nate's face, finding him looking down at her hand with concerned curiosity.

"How did you get these?" He inquired, running his thumb over the scars once more.

"Don't ask me that." Dani pleaded, her voice no louder than a whisper.

"Why?"

"Because once I tell you, you'll run."

Nate's eyes moved up from their hands to Dani's eyes. His gaze was unwavering and strong, and it saw through every wall that Dani was attempting to throw up in that very second. Dani watched him carefully, waiting for anger or irritation, but it never came. When Nate finally spoke, his voice was soft and sure.

"Try me."

* * *

"_Don! How's it goin', man?"_

_Dani practically skipped into the FBI headquarters after school. The team had finally gotten back from Texas around noon. Don looked up from his computer and muttered a hello to the grinning teen before waving her through. Excitedly, Dani went to the elevator and hit the button for the fifth floor. _

_As soon as the doors opened on the BAU floor, Dani slipped through, not even bothering to let them open all the way. Emily must have heard the elevator ding, because she looked up from her paperwork the second it did. A brilliant smile spread across her face as she stood from her desk. Dani ran across the bullpen, but just as she was about to enter Emily's open arms, a shot rang out and Emily stumbled backwards. A dark red, almost black spot appeared in the center of Emily's chest, contrasting against the stark white of her button-up shirt. Dani lunged forward, catching Emily just before she hit the floor._

"_Mom!" _

_Easing Emily to the floor, Dani immediately pressed her hands to the rapidly growing blood stain. _

"_You're gonna be okay." Dani insisted, attempting to ignore the blood seeping through her fingers and onto the floor. "Help! Someone help me!"_

_She looked back, finding a masked figure with a gun standing a few feet away, laughing. The sound of the rest of the team talking caught Dani's attention, and her eyes moved to the bullpen entrance, where Derek was pushing the door open._

"_Wait!" Dani screamed. "Gun!"_

_Derek's eyes flickered up to her, and just as his hand moved to the gun at his hip, several shots rang out. Derek, Reid, Penelope, and Hotch all fell to the floor while JJ and Rossi quickly drew their weapons and began firing. As bullets flew overhead, Dani threw herself over Emily. She waited until the shooting stopped and lifted her head. JJ was standing with her back to Dani, not moving._

"_JJ?" Dani called out carefully. _

_JJ turned around slowly, revealing several rapidly growing blood stains. The scream that tore from Dani's throat echoed through the otherwise silent bullpen as JJ fell to the floor with the rest of the team. Sobbing and screaming for help, Dani looked back down at Emily, who lay under her, her eyes closed._

"_Mom?" Dani sniffled, shaking Emily lightly._

_When Emily's eyes didn't open, Dani shook her harder._

"_Mom, wake up." She pleaded. "Wake up, please. I just got you back."_

_Realizing that there was nothing she could do; Dani pressed a lingering kiss to Emily's forehead and reluctantly pulled away. She quickly moved to JJ and looked over her body, unable to bring herself to touch her._

"_JJ, please." She whimpered. "You're my mom, too. Please. I need you."_

_After no response from JJ, Dani went to every other member of the team, finding them all dead. She let out a primal, devasted scream and slammed her fists against the floor before folding into herself and resting her head on the floor, covering her head with her hands._

"_Dani…"_

_Dani looked around the bullpen, searching for the source of the voice calling her name._

"_Mom?"_

_She sprinted back to Emily where Emily was, only to find her gone. There was no blood on the carpet, or any evidence that the agent had just been laying there, dead. Dani looked down at her hands and found them free of blood. She whipped around to find the rest of the team gone._

"Dani! Wake up, honey."

Dani shot straight up in bed with a gasp, drenched in sweat, with tears streaming down her face. Emily quickly turned on the lamp on Dani's bedside table and began running her hand through Dani's hair.

"Breathe." She soothed. "You're okay. It was just a dream."

Dani gasped for air as she came to the realization that she was back in her room, and both Emily and JJ were sitting on her bed in front of her. Catching both Emily and JJ off guard, Dani's eyes widened in fear and she immediately pressed her hands to Emily's chest and shoulders, searching for injury before moving to JJ and doing the same. After finding that both of them were free of injury she wrapped one arm around both of them and pulled them into a hug before breaking down into violent sobs.

"We're here." JJ whispered. "We're right here."

After several long minutes, Dani pulled away from the embrace, but kept each hand clutching both of Emily and JJ's pajama shirts.

"Do you want to talk about it?" JJ asked as she reached out and wiped the tears away from Dani's face.

Silently, Dani shook her head.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" Emily proposed.

"No!" Dani pleaded. "I can't. Please, Mom. Don't make me."

"Okay, okay." Emily shushed, pulling the trembling girl into another hug. "You don't have to."

For a few moments, Emily simply rocked back and forth slowly while Dani clung to her. JJ started to get up from the bed in order to go turn the light on, but Dani's hand shot out with lightning speed and pulled her back down onto the bed.

"Don't leave."

JJ and Emily shared a worried, heartbroken glance over the top of Dani's head as Emily pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"We're not going anywhere."

* * *

The next morning, Dani ate her breakfast in silence with her head propped up on her hand, attempting to stay awake. Emily and JJ watched her carefully from the other side of the counter, clutching their third cups of coffee in their hands. After Dani's head nearly dropped onto the counter a fourth time, Emily sighed and shook her head.

"Why don't you stay home from school today, love." She offered. "You're exhausted."

Dani silently shook her head.

"I can cancel your appointment with Doctor Stone after school." JJ added.

Again, Dani shook her head silently.

"Dani…" Emily sighed, setting her coffee cup down on the counter. "Say something, please."

Dani contemplatively straightened up and placed her spoon back into her basically untouched bowl of cereal. As she took a deep breath, she leaned back into her chair. She looked at both Emily and JJ without any emotion and folded her hands in her lap, as if she was about to make a business proposal.

"I want to change my last name."

Emily's jaw slackened and her eyebrows shot up to her hairline. Both she and JJ stared at Dani for a second, trying to figure out if that was really what she had just said.

"Or not…" Dani mumbled, immediately shutting down and going back to pushing her cereal around the bowl.

"Wait!" Emily blurted, finally coming to her senses. "No, sweetheart. If that's what you want to do, we can make it happen. I just- what makes you want to change it all of a sudden?"

"It doesn't make any sense for me to keep Moretti as my last name. It's just a reminder of the worst year of my life. Plus, I'm a Prentiss now, right?"

Dani hopefully lifted her gaze to Emily, who was smiling at her warmly.

"Absolutely." Emily nodded. "You're a Prentiss now."

For the first time all morning, Dani smiled, and it reached her eyes. Just as she was about to say something, the sound of Nate's car horn filtered into the house. Dani let out a huff and pushed herself off of her chair. Once her cereal bowl was in the sink and rinsed, she grabbed her backpack and threw it over one shoulder.

"I'll have Nathan drop me off at HQ for my appointment." She announced.

"Sounds good." JJ smiled. "We'll see you then."

Dani took a step towards Emily but stopped herself for a moment. Emily and JJ watched as Dani gathered up the nerve to step forward and press a quick kiss to Emily's cheek.

"Bye, Mom."

Quickly, Dani weaved around Emily and did the same to JJ.

"Bye, Mama."

JJ's eyes widened with shock and her face reddened immediately. Dani noticed, and fear washed over her features, worried that she had done something wrong.

"Was that not…can I not- I mean, we haven't- "

JJ effectively cut Dani's stammering off by pulling her into a crushing hug.

"Have a good day, love." She said softly. "We love you."

Dani pulled away from the hug with a brilliant, teary smile and nodded before running towards the door. They heard her shoes squeak on the hardwood as she stopped and turned back around. A second later, she appeared from around the corner again.

"I love you guys, too."

Without another word, Dani took off towards the door. Once they heard the door close, and Nate's Jeep pull out of the driveway, Emily turned to JJ with wide eyes.

"Did that just- "JJ started.

"Yeah." Emily nodded. "Yeah, it did."

Joyous laughter tumbled from JJ's lips and Emily smiled brilliantly. Emily surged across the kitchen and pulled JJ into her arms, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around.

"We're officially moms." JJ breathed before kissing Emily.

Emily kissed JJ back with everything she had and didn't pull away until her lungs were screaming for air. With one last, quick kiss, Emily smiled and nodded her head.

"We're officially moms."

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey! Here's Chapter 15! I hope you all enjoy it!**

"Where are we going?" Dani inquired as she followed Amelia to the elevator.

Amelia hit the call button before turning to Dani with a warm smile.

"I thought we would try something a little different for our session today."

Dani heaved out a sigh as the elevator doors opened and stepped into it after Amelia.

"Okay, that didn't answer my question." She deadpanned as she looked down at the athletic shorts and black FBI hoodie she was wearing. "Nor does it explain why you had my workout clothes in your office, or why I'm wearing them."

"Let's just say I called in a favor." Amelia hummed.

"Cryptic, Doc. Very cryptic."

The elevator landed on the basement floor of the building. Realization dawned on Dani as she followed Amelia into the self-defense training room. Through the glass doors, Dani could see Derek in the middle of the room, wearing his own training clothing as he stretched his arms and shoulders. Amelia opened the door to the training room, and Derek immediately spun around.

"Hey, Princess!" He greeted with a bright smile.

"Hi, Derek." Dani responded; confusion eminent in her voice. "What's this all about?"

Amelia folded her arms over her chest, holding her notepad tightly.

"You've mentioned multiple times in our sessions how helpful your training with Agent Morgan has been, so I thought maybe we could use that to our advantage."

Derek reached for the hand wraps on the floor and tossed them to Dani, who caught them with ease despite the fact that she was completely exhausted. As she wrapped her hands quickly, Derek pulled on his training mitts. Amelia took several steps back, so she stood off of the sparring mat. As Derek clapped his mitts together and held his hands in the air, Dani looked to Amelia for direction.

"I've noticed over the past few weeks that you refuse to acknowledge anything negative about your circumstance." Amelia announced. "Yes, you voice concerns for your family, but it's always followed up with something along the lines of 'but it could be worse'"

"Yeah." Dani confirmed shortly. "Because it could always be worse."

"That in no way makes anything you have gone through less difficult."

"Okay, but where does Derek come in with all of this?"

Before Amelia could answer, a training mitt collided heavily with Dani's head, resulting in a dull thud. Caught off guard, Dani stumbled a couple steps to the side, but quickly rebounded and immediately shoved Derek, her glare burning holes into him.

"What the hell, man?" She yelled. "What was that all about?"

Wordlessly, Derek gestured to Amelia. Dani turned her attention back to Amelia, her hands still clenched into angry fists. A small, knowing smirk played at Amelia's lips as she cleared her throat.

"That anger…" Amelia began, gesturing between Dani and Derek. "Will only continue to get worse if you don't admit that there are things in life that still hurt."

Dani set her jaw and straightened her spine as she glanced from Amelia, to Derek, and then back to Amelia.

"This is going to fucking suck."

* * *

For what felt like the millionth time, one of Derek's sparring mitts came into direct contact with the side of Dani's head. Dani had come to expect it, and no longer stumbled with the contact. Now, every time Derek was able to get a blow in, she let out a frustrated growl and shoved him away from her. Every muscle in Dani's body was screaming, and she had long discarded her hoodie, leaving her in her athletic shorts and a racerback tank top. Her ponytail was no longer tight to her head, and strands of hair were sticking out in every direction.

"God Damnit, Derek!" Dani yelled as she took several steps backward, finally fed-up with the light blows to the head.

Amelia was watching closely in the back of the room; which Dani was hyper aware of. She could feel the therapist's eyes on her constantly, and she heard the scribbles of Amelia writing something down on her notepad every few minutes. Dani whipped around to face Amelia and threw her hands up in the air.

"What good is this doing?" She questioned. "Now I'm just pissed off."

"Good." Amelia stated simply, not even looking up from her notes.

"Excuse me?"

Dani took another step toward Amelia, cocking a challenging eyebrow.

"I said good." Amelia repeated. "Now, tell me why you're pissed off."

"Because you're standing there, writing something down on your damn clipboard while Morgan does whatever the hell he wants."

"Agent Morgan is doing exactly what I asked him to do."

"What do you want from me, lady?" Dani exclaimed, tears of frustration and exhaustion forming in her eyes.

"I want you to tell me why you're so angry." Amelia stated, her tone calm and collected as she eyed Dani closely.

"You really want to know why I'm angry? Huh?" Dani scoffed, interlocking her hands on the top of her head and clenching her jaw for a brief moment before laughing bitterly and shaking her head. "I'm angry, because I spent fifteen years of my life without a family, and now that I have one, I can't shake the feeling that I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop!"

"Why?" Amelia pushed, taking one step onto the sparring mat.

"Because my moms travel the country chasing down serial killers!"

"What else?"

With a primal growl, Dani spun around and started throwing punch after punch at Derek's hands. She was moving so quickly that Derek struggled to keep up. After several blows, Dani turned back around, breathing harshly.

"I haven't even looked at a piano in years." She huffed. "Because the people who were supposed to keep me safe turned me into some fucked up psychological experiment."

"Talk to me about that." Amelia said softly.

"Why?" Dani challenged. "It's not going to change what happened."

"You're right, it won't." Amelia nodded. "But it'll help you to get it out. Don't filter it. What you say in here, stays between the three of us."

Dani hesitantly looked back to Derek, who nodded in agreement.

"No one but us." He repeated.

Dani swallowed harshly and began flexing her hands as she stared at the sparring mat. It took a few moments, but she finally lifted her head and took a deep breath.

"I didn't go to school like other kids my age." She began. "I was homeschooled. Conrad and Anna were professors, so they would teach me on days that they didn't have classes. Sometimes, I would go to class with Anna. Most of my lessons, though, were piano lessons…"

Amelia and Derek listened closely, not wanting to pull Dani away from the train of thought that she was on. Dani's eyes had glazed over, which sent worry flooding into Derek. He had taken a step closer to Dani, but Amelia's hand on his forearm stopped him from getting any closer. After a few moments of silence, Dani continued.

"The reason Conrad wanted to adopt me was because of my piano playing. He didn't care about the languages I spoke, or the fact that I had an IQ higher than most adults. He had this sick fascination with how the nuns would punish me for playing something wrong. Every wrong note meant ten lashes to my hands with a metal ruler. When he and Anna visited the orphanage, he had them demonstrate. Even if I played a correct note, the nun- Sister Maria- would hit my hands until they bled… I learned not to cry by the time I was four. Crying just made her hit me harder."

Dani's voice trailed off and she clenched her eyes shut, forcing the intruding images of her own bleeding hands out of her mind.

"What happened when you got to DC?" Amelia inquired, directing Dani back into her story.

"Conrad bought a gorgeous Fazioli piano, and he made me play for hours a day. He didn't know how to play piano, but he knew classical music well enough to pick out a wrong note. He logged every session and every time he used the ruler on my hands. After six months, he had filled up three notebooks with records of my lesson. Once Anna died, it didn't even matter what I played… he would just snap sometimes."

As she spoke, Dani had unwrapped her hands and was now staring at her knuckles.

"You want to know what I'm most angry about?" She asked. "I'm angry that I was given the ability to play beautiful music, but all it brought me was these scars."

With a choked sigh, she dropped her hands to her sides and lifted her gaze back to Derek and Amelia.

"I think we're done for the day, yeah?" Amelia proposed. "You made a lot of progress today, Dani."

Nodding, Dani picked her hoodie up from the mat and pulled it on.

"Then why doesn't it feel like I did?"

* * *

"Hey, you." Emily greeted, standing up from her desk as Dani trudged into the bullpen with Derek directly behind her.

"Hey." Dani responded with a forced smile.

"How was your appointment?"

Dropping her backpack onto the floor, Dani walked directly into Emily and buried her face in the crook of the older woman's neck as she hugged her tightly. Ignoring the fact that Dani was drenched in sweat, Emily hugged her back with equal fervor.

"It'll get easier." Emily whispered softly.

Dani nodded and pulled away from the embrace. She could feel Derek's eyes on them, and the way Reid had ducked his head exaggeratedly let Dani know that he was trying hard not to pay attention.

"Is Mama in her office?" Dani asked. "I might just go sleep on her couch until it's time to leave."

"Yeah, sweetheart." Emily nodded. "She's in there. Just knock."

Wordlessly, Dani picked up her backpack and threw it over her shoulder. As she turned towards the stairs to the second level, Derek stood up from his chair and cleared his throat.

"Hey, Princess." He called.

Dani slowly turned back around to face Derek. Her shoulders were slumped forward with exhaustion, and her eyes were brimmed with unshed tears.

"I'm always here." Derek insisted. "If you ever need anything. I'm in your corner."

Dani ducked her head in acknowledgment and forced a smile before going to JJ's office. She knocked lightly, waiting until JJ's voice filtered through the door.

"Come in."

Slowly, Dani opened the door. JJ was at her desk with her glasses rested on the bridge of her nose as she looked over several open files at the same time. JJ glanced up at her, and a warm smile immediately spread across her face.

"Hi, love."

JJ's smile faltered when she saw how beaten down Dani looked.

"What's wrong?" She asked, taking her glasses off and leaning forward onto her desk. "Do you need to talk?"

"Is it okay if I just sleep?" Dani asked, pointing to the couch that was tucked in the corner of the office.

Immediately, JJ nodded, but her worried expression didn't go away. She watched carefully as Dani dropped her backpack to the floor and curled up on the couch. JJ pushed herself up from her desk and opened the cabinet next to it, pulling out a blanket. She quietly moved across the room and draped the blanket over Dani before dropping a kiss to her forehead.

"I'll be done within the hour, then we'll go home."

With her eyes already closed, Dani nodded in understanding before pulling the blanket up to her chin. JJ didn't go back to her paperwork until Dani's breathing evened out, letting the blonde know that she was fast asleep.

* * *

"Is there a reason you're pushing this so hard?"

Dani's voice echoed through the house as she and Penelope came through the front door. Emily and JJ both looked up from the books they were reading and waited for them to appear from the foyer. As Dani and Penelope strode into the living room, Dani was rolling her eyes dramatically as Penelope followed after her, speaking a thousand words a minute. Penelope threw herself down onto the open armchair while Dani diverted her own path and went into the kitchen.

"I'm pushing because that's what you need." Penelope insisted. "A push."

"Penelope." Dani groaned, her head in the fridge. "I didn't tell you about it just so you could badger me about joining the team."

"What's going on?" JJ inquired, looking between Emily and Penelope.

Emily shrugged and shook her head while Penelope heaved a sigh.

"Figures, she wouldn't tell you two."

"I didn't tell them…" Dani started as she strode into the living room with an apple and a bottle of water and sat down between Emily and JJ. "Because it's not a big deal."

"It is so a big deal!"

Rolling her eyes yet again, Dani took a bite of her apple, saving herself from having to answer.

"Would either of you like to explain what this conversation is about?" Emily suggested, reaching over and plucking the apple from Dani's grasp and taking a bite, earning a whine of protest from the teen.

"You know how Washington Prep only has the best track team this side of the Mississippi?" Penelope asked.

"We're aware." JJ nodded. "How did you know that, Pen?"

"I researched the daylights out of that school the second you told me that's where you were sending my Goddaughter." Penelope responded in a tone that could only be used to mean 'duh'.

"Ah." JJ laughed. "Continue."

"Thank you." Penelope huffed. "Anyway, the coach of said track team is also Dani's gym teacher, and apparently said coach-slash-gym teacher of aforementioned team has personally invited Dani to join the team."

"That's great!" Emily exclaimed, nudging Dani with her knee.

Dani responded with nothing more than a single-shouldered shrug as she kept her eyes on the floor.

"I'm not joining the team, so it doesn't really matter." Dani muttered.

"Why aren't you?" JJ questioned, tilting her head to the side.

Again, Dani responded with a shrug.

"If the coach says you should join the team, it's obviously for a reason." Emily stated warmly.

"Yeah, and that reason is that she's the Usain Bolt of teenage girls." Penelope added.

"That's not even close to true." Dani countered. "Usain Bolt's top speed is 27 miles per hour. It's physically impossible for someone with my build and stature to reach a speed like that."

"Oh, whatever, Einstein. You need to stop seeing movies with Reid. You're starting to sound like him." Penelope sighed. "Derek told me last week that you lapped every single FBI recruit on the track."

JJ and Emily looked to Dani with impressed glances, and Dani let out a reluctant sigh.

"I kept up with them, yes." She conceded.

"I think you should do it." Emily announced.

"I second that." JJ added.

Dani hesitantly glanced between JJ and Emily, who were both giving her beaming, encouraging smiles.

"Alright, fine." Dani breathed. "I'll give it a shot."

Dani, JJ, and Emily were 100% sure that the neighbors heard Penelope's shriek of excitement.

* * *

"_This_ is where you live?"

Dani gazed up at the mansion that stood proudly in front of her, her mouth agape, as Nate pulled his Jeep around the circular driveway and parked it directly in front of the house.

"It is." Nate nodded.

"So…. When your parents are out of town, you have the whole thing to yourself?"

Nate gave a non-committal shrug as he pulled his backpack out of the back seat.

"The cleaning crew comes in once a week, and a few of my father's colleagues have a key. They let themselves in and out."

"Doesn't it get lonely?"

Nate didn't answer Dani's question. Instead, he pushed the heavy front door open and ushered her into the massive foyer. Immediately, Dani felt something heavy smack into her leg. She looked down to find a white, fluffy little dog staring up at her.

"Well, hello there." She cooed, kneeling down and petting the dog. "Who might you be?"

"That's Tank." Nate chuckled.

Dani cocked a quizzical eyebrow and peered up at him.

"Tank?"

"Charlie named him." Nate explained. "He thought it was funny since he's such a small dog."

Nodding in understanding and smiling brightly, Dani scratched behind Tank's ears once more for good measure before following Nate down a long hallway. As they got closer to what must have been the kitchen, music reached Dani's ears along with the sound of pots and pans clanging together.

"Mom?" Nate called out.

"Oh! Nate, honey! I'm in the kitchen."

"Yeah, obviously." Nate muttered to himself, earning a quite chuckle from Dani.

Finally, the hallway opened up into a ridiculous, completely open, fully updated kitchen. Standing in the middle of the ridiculous amount of counter space and the multitude of appliances was a tall, powerful looking woman. Her hair was long and greying at the roots but fell in flawless ringlets past her shoulders. The baby blue apron she was wearing was covered in whatever it was that she was cooking. As soon as Dani and Nate entered the kitchen, her eyes popped up and she beamed at them.

"Welcome home." Nate smiled.

The woman quickly untied her apron and threw it on the counter before hurrying around the kitchen island and throwing her arms around him tightly. Despite the fact that she was in heels, Nate still towered over her.

"I missed you so much!" She exclaimed. "You would have loved Berlin."

"I missed you too, mom."

"Oh, I'm being so rude!"

Dani plastered on the best smile she could as Nate's mom turned to her. Without any sort of warning, Dani was pulled into a crushing hug.

"I'm Mrs. Whittaker, but you can call me Kathy."

"It's nice to meet you." Dani responded, still being crushed by Kathy's surprisingly strong hold. "I'm Dani."

"Let me get a look at you." Kathy breathed, pulling away from the hug, but maintaining a hold on Dani's shoulders.

Kathy dragged her eyes from Dani's shoes, back up to her face. It took all of Dani's willpower not to squirm under the woman's gaze. Dani didn't think it was possible, but Kathy's smile grew wider as she examined Dani's features.

"You are absolutely stunning."

"Thank you, ma'am." Dani blushed.

"Gorgeous _and_ polite." Kathy observed, turning her attention back to Nate. "I can see how she's got you wrapped around her little finger."

"Mom!" Nate protested.

Deciding to spare Nate any further embarrassment, Dani interjected.

"What're you cooking?" She inquired.

Kathy heaved a heavy sigh and shook her head hopelessly.

"It's supposed to be dinner." She explained. "But something tells me we'll be ordering in."

"I can help if you'd like." Dani offered. "I know my way around a kitchen."

"Ugh, you're an angel!"

Before she could respond, Dani found herself being dragged around to the other side of the kitchen island. As Kathy grabbed a second apron from the pantry door and carefully placed it over Dani's head, Dani's eyes found Nate's. He was watching her closely, with that same crooked smirk that gave her butterflies in her stomach. When Dani blushed and ducked her head modestly, Nate cleared his throat.

"Where's dad?" He asked.

"He's in his study, dear. I'm sure he would love to see you."

Kathy was too busy glancing over the pages of her clearly unused cookbook to look up at Nate as she spoke to him. As Dani tied the strings of her apron behind her back, she shot him an apologetic glance, which was quickly answered with an encouraging wink.

"I'll be right back." He announced, more for Dani's sake than his mother's.

"Oh, don't worry about us!" Kathy called after him. "I'll take good care of Dani."

Once Nate was out of earshot, Kathy slid the cookbook across the counter, so it sat directly in front of Dani.

"I have no idea what I'm doing." Kathy admitted.

Dani laughed brightly as she pulled her hair up into a bun and examined the page for a split second.

"Got it." Dani stated, shutting the book.

Kathy eyed Dani is disbelief and shook her head.

"There's no way you read all of that."

Dani simply smirked at the older woman and grabbed the butcher-wrapped roast that was sitting on the counter.

"Ready to learn something?"

* * *

"Dani, this is absolutely incredible."

Dani's eyes drifted up to Lewis Whittaker, who was sitting at the head of the table. She smiled modestly and shook her head.

"It was all Kathy, sir." She insisted. "I simply supervised."

"That's not quite how it went." Kathy chuckled as she took a sip of her wine. "However, I appreciate you helping me save some face."

Lewis smiled at his wife warmly as he dabbed his chin with his napkin.

"Now, Dani…" He began. "You look incredibly familiar. What did you say your last name was?"

"I didn't." Dani clarified nervously. "It's Prentiss, though."

"You officially changed it?" Nate asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Mom got the paperwork expedited. I just got my new birth certificate yesterday. It just didn't come up."

Nate opened his mouth to speak again, but Lewis held his hand up, silencing him.

"You're not related to Elizabeth Prentiss, are you?"

Dread filled Dani's chest as she tried to figure out how to answer. It was obvious that Elizabeth hadn't been very open about Emily's teenage pregnancy, which meant that most- if not all- of her colleagues weren't aware that Dani existed. Nor were they aware of the fact that Emily had even been pregnant. Realizing that there was no way out of this situation without raising some serious red flags, Dani conceded.

"She's my grandmother." Dani nodded, fighting a grimace when Lewis's eyebrows shot up to his hairline and he fell back against his chair. "It's a rather long story."

"Care to tell it?" Lewis prompted.

"Dad." Nate interjected. "Dani doesn't have to explain herself to you."

Lewis held his hands up in surrender and shook his head.

"My apologies, Dani." He breathed. "I just wasn't aware that Elizabeth had any grandchildren."

"It's just me. No other grandkids."

"That would make you Emily's daughter, yes?"

"Dad- "

"It would." Dani responded proudly.

"And how old are you?"

"I'm about to turn sixteen, sir."

Lewis gave nothing more than a noncommittal hum, and Dani immediately regretted ever telling him her last name. The rest of dinner went by painfully slowly. Kathy would ask the occasional question while Nate watched Dani with a concerned gaze.

As soon as it was a reasonable time to leave, Dani practically ran out the front door and straight to Nate's car. As soon as she closed the passenger side door, she let out a shaky breath. Nate got into the car a couple seconds later and immediately pulled the car out of the driveway. The first few minutes of the drive were silent, but Dani finally spoke.

"He's going to call Elizabeth, isn't he?"

"I asked him not to." Nate responded.

"That's not a yes or a no, Nathan."

Nate didn't respond. They both knew that Lewis had every intention of calling Elizabeth and digging for more information. He was a politician, they fed on other politicians' indiscretions. After what felt like a lifetime, Nate pulled the car up to the curb in front of Dani's house.

"My mom is going to be so pissed." Dani muttered.

"No, she won't, Dani." Nate insisted. "I think it's obvious that Emily has no intention of keeping you a secret."

Dani nodded hesitantly and took a deep breath as she pushed the car door open.

"I'll see you on Monday?" She inquired.

"Before then, if you need me." Nate smiled.

Abandoning all second guessing, Dani leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Nate's cheek. It was so light and so quick, that it was almost as if it hadn't happened, but the ridiculously giddy smile that spread across Nate's features gave Dani all of the information she needed.

"Thank you."

Without another word, Dani took off toward the house. Dani burst into the foyer and quickly removed her blazer and shoes before hurrying into the living room. Emily and JJ were curled up under a blanket, watching old Golden Girls reruns. As soon as Dani came sliding into the living room, Emily paused the TV and gazed up at her.

"I might've done something really stupid." Dani breathed.

JJ and Emily instantly straightened up.

"What's wrong?" JJ asked.

"So, Nathan's dad is a diplomat, right?" Dani began.

"Yeah." Emily drawled. "What about him?"

"Well, he said I looked familiar and asked me what my last name was, so I said it was Prentiss and then he asked if I was related to Elizabeth, and I didn't want to lie but I also didn't want to out you for getting pregnant at fifteen, but I panicked and said I was so now he knows that I'm your daughter and Elizabeth's granddaughter-"

Dani began speaking so quickly that she forgot to breathe. Realizing that she was about to start hyperventilating, Emily cut her off.

"Dani, breathe."

After a beat, Dani pulled in a ragged, wheezing breath and released it slowly.

"Are you mad?" She asked.

"Why would I be mad, sweetheart?"

"Because I told a scary politician that you had a secret baby when you were fifteen."

"You told a scary politician the truth." Emily chuckled. "Lord knows I didn't do that when I was your age."

"So… I'm not in trouble? Even if Lewis calls Elizabeth and tells her that her granddaughter is galivanting around town, telling everyone she knows that she has an illegitimate grandchild?"

JJ and Emily couldn't help the laughter that tumbled from their lips. Dani groaned dramatically and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Moms!" She protested. "I'm serious."

"Come here, baby." JJ laughed.

Dani trudged over to the couch and threw herself down onto it, placing her head on JJ's lap and her feet on Emily's. JJ's fingers immediately threaded through Dani's hair soothingly.

"You need to stop watching soap operas with Penelope, first off." Emily chuckled. "And second, whatever problems my mother has, she can take them up with me. You have every right to the Prentiss name, and I'm proud that you have it."

Dani's eyes fluttered shut as JJ continued to run her fingers through her hair.

"I hate politics." Dani mumbled.

"Tell me about it." Emily scoffed.

Just as Dani had begun to fully relax, there was a harsh knock at the front door. Dani quickly lifted her head from JJ's lap and pushed herself off of the couch.

"I got it."

Dani disappeared into the foyer for a few seconds before coming flying back into the living room with wide eyes.

"It's Elizabeth."

**Thank you for reading!**


	16. Chapter 16

Emily nearly laughed at the composed, yet obviously furious expression on her mother's face as they stood on either side of the threshold. The Ambassador was clutching her purse to her chest tightly, her knuckles having gone an almost troublesome shade of white. Her eyes were narrowed at Emily and her jaw was clenched tightly. The muscles in her jaw twitched when Emily's lips turned up into a clearly amused smirk.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Mother?"

"I would like to speak with Daniella."

Emily scoffed and placed one hand on the opposite side of the doorframe, cutting off any chance of her mother squeezing in through the doorway.

"That's not going to happen, and I think you know that."

"That little- "

"Watch it." Emily snarled.

Elizabeth huffed out a breath and shook her head indignantly before regaining her diplomatic composure and levelling her eyes at Emily again, this time less narrowed, but colder.

"Daniella is trapesing around the city telling all of my colleagues about your teenage indiscretions and tarnishing the Prentiss name and I will not stand for it."

"You're angry because my daughter is telling the truth that you have spent the past fifteen years covering up."

It was Elizabeth's turn to scoff as she gazed at Emily in bewildered amusement.

"So now she's your daughter?" She snipped. "After I did everything to make sure- "

"All you did was make Dani's life a living hell, and I refuse to allow you to do so again. Now, leave before I call every single one of your colleagues and tell them _exactly_ what you've been trying to cover up for all of these years."

"You wouldn't dare." Elizabeth challenged.

Emily took a step forward over the threshold, causing Elizabeth to take a rushed step backward.

"Try me."

"Mom."

Emily whipped around at the sound of Dani's voice coming from the foyer. Her eyes landed on Dani, who was watching her with concerned, watery eyes. Her hands were shoved deep into the pockets of her jeans, but she stood tall.

"Dani, go back into the living room with JJ." Emily directed softly.

"You come with before you say something you can't take back."

It took every ounce of Emily's strength to stay upright. The tone of Dani's voice; no-nonsense and unwavering, yet endlessly loving made her heart flood with warmth. With a wordless nod, Emily stepped back into the house and returned her attention to her mother, who was watching with nothing but confusion in her eyes.

"You're allowing a teenager to tell you how to conduct yourself in your own home?" Elizabeth scoffed.

Emily shook her head as she grasped the doorknob tightly, preparing to shut the door.

"I'm listening to what my daughter needs." She corrected. "That's not something I would ever expect you to understand."

The last thing Emily saw before closing the door was the look of complete shock on her mother's face.

With a shaky breath, Emily turned back around to Dani, who was smiling at her warmly.

"Mama's picking out a movie." Dani announced, as if nothing had ever happened.

"Let's hope it's not another rom-com."

Dani rolled her eyes and allowed Emily to drape her arm over her shoulders as they walked back into the living room.

"Thank you for that, by the way." Emily said sincerely.

"Don't mention it," Dani shrugged. "I've got your back, Mom. Always."

* * *

**Three Months Later**

The entire team had gathered at Rossi's mansion early Sunday evening. Sunday dinners at the mansion had become the norm over the past couple months. When the BAU didn't have a case that pulled them away, of course. Dani was in the kitchen with Rossi as usual, chopping vegetables while Penelope, Emily, and JJ sat at the kitchen island, laughing and drinking wine. Hotch and Derek were in the living room watching football, and Spencer was seated at the newest addition to Dave's home—a baby grand piano. Spencer's hands glided delicately over the keys, putting out the slow, unpracticed melody of the sheet music placed in front of him. Every so often, Dani's gaze would stray to the piano before snapping back to her task at hand. She deliberately redirected her attention to what Penelope was saying, attempting to push the sound of the music away from her ears.

"I just don't understand the draw off a bunch of overpaid men tackling each other to the ground and risking concussions all for the possession of some stupid ball."

"I thought you'd like a man in uniform, Pen." JJ smiled before taking a sip of her wine.

"Oh, trust me, JJ, I do. I just prefer them to also be lacking brain da- "

A wrong note from the piano rang out, immediately followed by the clatter of the knife that had been in Dani's hand falling onto the marble countertop. Emily's eyes shot to Dani, finding the teen staring at the piano, her hands shaking violently despite the fact that they were pressed firmly against the counter.

"Dani?" Emily questioned softly. "You okay?"

"A flat minor, thirteenth measure."

"What, love?"

"It's A flat minor in the thirteen measure. He played A minor."

Dani watched with glassy, distant eyes as Spencer continued to play as if nothing had happened. A few seconds later, he played a wrong note again. Dani visibly flinched.

"God damnit, Reid if you're going to butcher Chopin, do it when there aren't other people around, yeah? Some of us would rather go deaf than listen to that bullshit." She snarled, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

Spencer immediately stopped playing, and everyone stared at Dani with wide eyes. Once she realized what she had said, Dani's clenched jaw went slack and regret flooded her features instantly.

"Sweetheart- "Emily began, only to be cut off.

"I need some air."

"Dani, wait."

JJ's insistence went unheard as Dani ran out the front door, slamming it behind her.

"I'm sorry," Spencer rushed. "I didn't realize…"

"It's okay, Spence," JJ sighed as she stood from her chair. "It's not your fault. I'll go talk to her."

"Actually, JJ," Derek interjected. "Let me."

Reluctantly, JJ nodded and sat back down. Derek pushed himself up from the couch and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator before following Dani out the front door.

He found Dani sitting on the front step with her head in her hands, her hair falling in dark curtains around her face. With a quiet sigh, he sat down next to her and held out the bottle of water.

"I really don't need a lecture right now."

"I'm not here to lecture you, Princess."

Surprised, Dani looked up at Derek.

"I thought you were one of my moms."

Once Dani took the offered drink, Derek smiled and shook his head.

"Nah, it's just your favorite badass Godfather."

"I sure have a lot of Godparents for a kid with two nonreligious parents."

Derek chuckled and looked out onto the street as a car passed by, its headlights illuminating the houses on the block.

"Are they mad at me?" Dani asked quietly, her own gaze focused ahead of them.

"Worried. Not mad."

"I'm not sure which is worse, honestly."

"It's their job to worry about you, kid. It's all of our jobs."

"I'm fine, Derek," Dani insisted. "Nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, I thought I was fine too."

Dani's eyes shot back to Derek, who was still staring out onto the street. The muscles in his jaw clenched as he considered something carefully.

"You mean- "

"I won't go into detail," Derek interrupted softly. "That's not why I came out here, and it wouldn't do either of us any good anyway. I just want you to know that you might think you're fine, but that doesn't mean you're okay."

"How do you handle it? The reminders. Memories. The shame."

"There's no shame in going through hell and living to tell the story."

"I'll never tell the story. No one wants to hear it."

"You're sitting outside of an entire mansion full of people who would be more than willing to listen."

Dani scoffed before lifting the bottle of water to her lips with a shaky hand and taking a long swig. Derek's eyes trained themselves on the faint scars marking Dani's knuckles. When Dani noticed his gaze, she closed the bottle of water and set it down before holding both of her hands out in front of them.

"I hate that he gave me these. I feel branded."

"They're battle scars." Derek corrected. "Not a brand."

Dani considered his words for a few moments before cautiously asking her next question.

"Do you have any?"

"Not on the outside." Derek admitted. "But external or internal, they fade with time."

"How much time does it take?"

"That's up to you. It'll take a hell of a lot longer if you don't let people help you."

"Maybe you should have been a therapist instead of an FBI agent."

"In all seriousness, Princess. You've gotta stop letting these," He emphasized his words by gesturing to Dani's hands before continuing. "Rule your life. They're a part of you, but not all of you. You give them meaning, not the other way around."

A single tear escaped from Dani's eyes as she let out a slow exhale.

"I don't know how, Derek."

Derek moved closer and wrapped one arm around Dani's shoulders, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Start by realizing that you have an entire army of people standing right by your side. I meant what I said; every single one of us will listen to you any time that you want to talk."

Dani allowed herself to lean into Derek's grasp for a few moments before pulling away and taking a deep breath.

"I should apologize to Spence."

Derek nodded in understanding as Dani stood from the step and looked back at the front door of the mansion just as an eruption of laughter reached her ears.

"After you." Derek smiled.

With a bit of hesitation, Dani opened the front door and walked back inside. She made a b-line for the piano bench, where Spencer was still seated, although he was no longer playing. Instead, he was staring at the sheet music in front of him.

Dani forced herself to sit down next to him, and his eyes lifted to meet hers.

"I'm sorry that I was an asshole."

"I'm sorry- "

"Spence, no. Someone should play this thing, it's a beautiful instrument. I don't want you to apologize."

Spencer nodded in understanding and looked back to the sheet music.

"I've played this piece before," Dani began as she pointed to the thirteenth measure of the music. "There's an accidental here, and Chopin never marked them. It's A flat minor."

"That makes more sense."

"Why don't you keep playing. I'd like to listen."

"Are you sure?" Spencer asked.

Dani smiled brightly and nodded. Spencer quickly lifted his hands back to the keys and began playing again, this time playing the correct notes.

Dani sat with him and listened until dinner was ready.


End file.
